word association testn. Psychology A test for assessing personality traits and conflicts, in which the subject responds to a given word with the first word that comes to mind or with a predetermined type of word, such as an antonym.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.