dishabituation

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noun

A way of responding to old stimuli as if they were new.

OriginEnglish habituation ← Middle English dis- ← Latin dis- →
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Meanings

noundishabituation (countable and uncountable, plural dishabituations)

plural dishabituations

  1. countableuncountableA way of responding to old stimuli as if they were new.
    1 more example

    Habituation and dishabituation allow for experience-dependent tuning of these reflexes and the mechanisms underlying these forms of behavioral plasticity involve changes in transmitter release from the sensory to motor neuron synapses through homosynaptic depression and the serotonin-mediated recovery from depression, respectively.

    2015 August 29, “Decline in the Recovery from Synaptic Depression in Heavier Aplysia Results from Decreased Serotonin-Induced Novel PKC Activation”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
  2. countableuncountableProcess of reaching a dishabituated state.

Origin

  1. Latindis-
  2. Old Frenchdes-
  3. Latindis-
  4. Middle Englishdis-
  5. Englishdis-
  6. Englishhabituation
  7. Englishdishabituation

From dis- + habituation.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

dishabituation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dishabituation

MLA

“dishabituation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dishabituation. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dishabituation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dishabituation.

Source: dishabituation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.