Dictionary

extroversion en · NOUN

Etymology

From extro- + -version. As a variant of extraversion, popularized in psychology by Phyllis Blanchard's use of the (then nonstandard) spelling extrovert in her publication "Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte" (1918).

Meanings

1. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) The state or quality of being extroverted or an extrovert ▸ Consideration of the material world as an aid to spiritual insight.
   • The turning of the eye of the mind from [Christ] to outward things [mystics] call Extroversion. 1788, John Wesley, Works, volume VI, page 451:
   • in mystical Divinity... a scattering or distracting ones thoughts upon exterior objects. 1656, Thomas Blount, Glossographia, s.v. "Extroversion"
2. (uncountable, usually) The state or quality of being extroverted or an extrovert ▸ The condition of being inside out, especially in relation to the bladder.
   • In extroversion of the bladder the anterior part of this organ is more or less completely wanting. 1835, Robert Bentley Todd, editor, The Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology, volume I, page 391:
3. (informal, uncountable, usually) The state or quality of being extroverted or an extrovert ▸ A personality orientation towards others and things outside oneself; behavior expressing such orientation.
   • Extroversion is the thrusting out of the mind on to life, the use of the mind in practical affairs, the pouring out of the libido on external objects. 1920, Arthur George Tansley, The New Psychology and Its Relation to Life, page 88:
   • In a genre characterized by brassy extroversion, The Dead is a quiet revolutionary: a musical that dares to be diffident. 1999 October 29, Ben Brantley, “‘The Dead’: a Musical That Dares to be Quiet”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2022:
   • The roots of what are popularly taken to be introversion and extroversion show up in infancy: positive emotionality, or extroversion, and negative emotionality, or neuroticism. 2016 November 1, Drake Baer, “Are you an introvert or an extrovert? It’s more complicated than that”, in CNN, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2022:

Forms

Antonyms

introversion (antonym(s) of “psychology”)

Relateds

extrovert · extroverted · ambiversion · extroversive

Synonyms

sociability · exstrophy

Translations (19)

de Extraversion (concern with or an orientation toward others) · fr extroversion (concern with or an orientation toward others) · fi ulospäinsuuntautuneisuus (concern with or an orientation toward others) · ca extraversió (concern with or an orientation toward others) · es extroversión (concern with or an orientation toward others) · nl extraversie (concern with or an orientation toward others) · sh екстровертност (concern with or an orientation toward others) · lt ekstravertiškumas (concern with or an orientation toward others) · ro extraversiune (concern with or an orientation toward others) · fa برونگرایی (concern with or an orientation toward others) · vi hướng ngoại (concern with or an orientation toward others) · fi ekstraversio (concern with or an orientation toward others) · ja 外向性 (concern with or an orientation toward others) · de Extroversion (concern with or an orientation toward others) · ga eisdíritheacht (concern with or an orientation toward others) · cs extroverze (concern with or an orientation toward others) · fr extraversion (concern with or an orientation toward others) · it estroversione (concern with or an orientation toward others) · ka ექსტრავერსია (concern with or an orientation toward others)