death instinct

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noun
  1. suicidal tendency or inclination; predisposition to self-destruction.

  2. Psychoanalysis. an impulse to withdraw or destroy, working in opposition to forces urging survival and creation (life instinct ).

Origin of death instinct

1
First recorded in 1915–20

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

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