# emotion

/ˈiˌmoʊʃən/ (US) · /ɪmˈəʊʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/emotion
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. a feeling

noun · CEFR B1

a strong feeling such as love, fear, or happiness.

For teachers: a conscious mental reaction subjectively experienced as strong feeling, typically accompanied by physiological and behavioural changes.

- It can be difficult to control your emotions when you are very tired.
- The actor's ability to convey complex, conflicting emotions without speaking a single word was praised by every critic in attendance.

Usage: Often used as an uncountable noun when referring to the general capacity to feel.

### 2. animal response

noun · CEFR C1 · Academic · Technical

the way animals react to things in a way that looks like human feelings.

For teachers: a physiological and behavioural response in non-human organisms that parallels human affective states.

- Scientists study whether dogs feel the same emotions as humans.
- Ethologists debate whether the physiological markers observed in primates constitute true emotion or merely instinctual survival responses.

Usage: Common in biology and ethology contexts.

## Examples

- She struggled to hide her emotion during the sad movie.
- The actor's performance was so powerful that it stirred deep emotion in everyone in the audience.
- Psychologists often distinguish between primary and secondary responses, noting that a single event can trigger a complex cascade of emotion that evolves over several hours.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.