Rorschach test

noun

variants or less commonly Rorschach or Rorschach inkblot test

: a projective psychological test that uses a subject's interpretation of 10 standard black or colored inkblot designs to assess personality traits and emotional tendencies

Examples of Rorschach test in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This brings us to the following image, which will likely be a Rorschach test (aka, the ‘inkblot test’) for United fans. —Carl Anka, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025

Still, there was something illustrative about all the confusion and the way Carpenter’s act became a kind of Rorschach test. —Abby Aguirre, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2025

The abstract designs are a bit of a Rorschach test, evoking topographical lines on a map, the inside of a seashell, or whatever shape your brain creates. —Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, 23 Jan. 2025

And his finest work, the 1990 television soap opera Twin Peaks, could also be considered a sensitive, comedic Rorschach test, given its all-American grotesqueries — the definition of his artistic expression. —Armond White, National Review, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Hermann Rorschach †1922 Swiss psychiatrist

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Rorschach test

• acquiesced
• coalesced
• dispossessed
• manifest
• overdressed
• overstressed
• prepossessed
• reassessed
• reinvest
• repossessed
• unaddressed
• uncompressed

Kids Definition

Rorschach test

noun

Ror·​schach test

ˈrȯ(ə)r-ˌshäk-

: a psychological test in which a person is asked to tell what he or she sees in and thinks about ink blots of varying designs and colors and which is used to measure certain traits of personality

Medical Definition

Rorschach test

noun

: a projective psychological test that uses a subject's interpretation of 10 standard black or colored inkblot designs to assess personality traits and emotional tendencies

called also Rorschach, Rorschach inkblot test