westermarck effect

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Noun

1. A [[hypothetical]] [[psychological]] [[effect]] through which people who live in close [[domestic]] [[proximity]] during the first few years of their lives become [[desensitize]]d to later [[sexual]] [[attraction]]. It is one explanation for the [[incest]] [[taboo]].

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.