CATHARTIC Meaning of CATHARTIC in English adj. & n.adj. 1 effecting catharsis. 2 purgative. n. a cathartic drug. cathartically adv.[ LL catharticus f. Gk kathartikos (as CATHARSIS) ] Concise Oxford English dictionary. Краткий оксфордский словарь английского языка. 2012