Freudian slip

Named after Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌfɹɔɪdɪ.ən ˈslɪp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌfɹɔɪdi.ən ˈslɪp/
• Rhymes: -ɪp

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Freudian slip (plural Freudian slips)

1. (psychology) A mistake in speech or action in which a person supposedly shows their true subconscious desires.
   • 1936, “Review of The Anatomy of Personality”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎:

     After disposing of these general topics in a chapter entitled "The Manners of All Men" (but which, by some Freudian slip, we suppose, deals chiefly with 'The Impure Man')

   • 1938, “The Work of Art in the Epoch of its Technical Reproducibility”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎:

     Film has in fact enriched our world of perception, with methods which could be illustrated by Freudian theory. A Freudian slip in conversation would occur fifty years ago more or less unnoticed.

   • 1989 April 11, The Age‎:

     I always felt I was doing a bit of bluffing. I wondered the same when he referred to some of, his ideas being "away with the pixies", Freudian slip or did he intend […]

   • 1989 November 29, The Pittsburgh Press‎:

     After reviewing a tape of a newscast done by our candidate, in my enthusiasm I made my Freudian slip

   Synonym: parapraxis