emotion

noun

1)

she was good at hiding her emotions

Syn:

feeling, sentiment; reaction, response

2)

overcome by emotion, she turned away

Syn:

passion, strength of feeling, warmth of feeling

3)

responses based purely on emotion

Syn:

instinct, intuition, gut feeling; sentiment, the heart

••

emotion, affect, feeling, passion, sentiment

A feeling can be almost any subjective reaction or state — pleasant or unpleasant, strong or mild, positive or negative — that is characterized by an emotional response (a feeling of insecurity; a feeling of pleasure). An emotion is a very intense feeling, which often involves a physical as well as a mental response and implies outward expression or agitation (to be overcome with emotion) Passion suggests a powerful or overwhelming emotion, with connotations of sexual love (their passion remained undiminished after 30 years of marriage) or intense anger (a passion for revenge). There is more intellect and less feeling in sentiment, which is often applied to an emotion inspired by an idea (political sentiments; antiwar sentiments). Sentiment also suggests a refined or slightly artificial feeling (a speech marked by sentiment rather than passion). Affect is a formal psychological term that refers to an observed emotional state (heavily sedated, he spoke without affect).