death instinct

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He is more allied with his death instincts than his life instincts.

From Salon

When I was younger, I was really into Freud, and the entry point for me was an interest in what he calls “the death instinct.”

From Los Angeles Times

A cult is really about the death instinct.

From Salon

It was Freud who posited the Nirvana principle as an innate psychic drive or death instinct that aims to end life’s inevitable tension.

From The Guardian

There is eros, the erotic, desirous, and dynamic half of our nature, and then there is thanatos, the “death instinct”—a lethargy that pulls us toward numbness, quietness, and repetition.

From The New Yorker