sublimation /-limā″shən/ [L, sublimare] , 1. an unconscious defense mechanism by which an unacceptable instinctive drive is diverted to and expressed through a personally approved, socially accepted means. 2. (in psychoanalysis) the process of diverting certain components of the sex drive to a socially acceptable, nonsexual goal. Compare displacement. 3. change in a physical state from the solid phase directly to the gas phase.
