If it is aversive to the animal and discourages behavior, it is a punishment. If it seems aversive to you but is not aversive to the animal, then it is not an effective punishment. In fact, technically, it's not even a punishment.
Source: wiktionary
Aversive
Synonyms for "aversive" (2 found)
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Related word relations
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Related terms
2 entriesderived
6 entrieshas context
2 entriesrelated to
6 entriesTranslations
4 translations across 4 languages.
Catalan
1 entries- aversiu adj (causing avoidance)
French
1 entries- aversif adj (causing avoidance)
Italian
1 entries- aversivo adj (causing avoidance)
Māori
1 entries- whakakonekone adj (causing avoidance)
Sample sentences
2 total sentences available.
For general training purposes, opportunities to engage in reproductive acts are not a practical reinforcer, and using aversives that generate fear is fraught with side effects.
Source: wiktionary
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.