fawn response

noun

An overadaptation in response to a traumatic event entailing needs and wants being succumbed to those of the threat actor.

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Meanings

nounfawn response (plural fawn responses)

plural fawn responses

  1. human sciencesAn overadaptation in response to a traumatic event entailing needs and wants being succumbed to those of the threat actor.

Origin

Coined by American psychotherapist Pete Walker in 2009, defining a fourth typology of responses to post-trauma stress in addition to fight, flight, and freeze.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish miellyttämisreaktio
  • miellyttämisreaktioTranslations
German Bambi-Reflex, Unterwerfungsreaktion
  • Bambi-ReflexTranslations
  • UnterwerfungsreaktionTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

fawn response. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fawn%20response

MLA

“fawn response.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fawn%20response. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fawn response,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fawn%20response.

Source: fawn response on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.