Masochism

Masochism

Noun · /ˈmæs.ə.kɪ.z(ə)m/

Definition

The tendency to derive pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from one's own pain or humiliation; more broadly, a tendency to find pleasure or satisfaction in self-denial or subjection to unpleasant experiences. The adjective is masochistic.

Origin

Named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–1895), an Austrian novelist whose works, particularly Venus in Furs (1870), depicted characters who found sexual pleasure in being dominated, humiliated, or subjected to pain. The psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing coined the term masochism in his Psychopathia Sexualis (1886) to describe this psychological pattern, naming it after Sacher-Masoch.