newspeak

American  

[noo-speek, nyoo-] / ˈnuˌspik, ˈnyu- /

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) an official or semiofficial style of writing or saying one thing in the guise of its opposite, especially in order to serve a political or ideological cause while pretending to be objective, as in referring to “increased taxation” as “revenue enhancement.”

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newspeak British  

/ ˈnjuːˌspiːk /

noun

1. the language of bureaucrats and politicians, regarded as deliberately ambiguous and misleading

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Etymology

Origin of newspeak

new + speak, coined by George Orwell in his novel 1984 (1949)

Example Sentences

Fox News' slogans and catch-phrases such as "Fair & Balanced", "Real News. Real Honest Opinion", and "We Report. You Decide" are Orwellian newspeak; Fox News is doing exactly the opposite.

From Salon

“Food processor” sounds like newspeak concocted by a sinister culinary regime to reassure the international community.

From Washington Post

Government newspeak appears to have framed their language and shaped their thinking.

From The Guardian

The other side dismisses this position as an excess of sensitivity, even a demand for Orwellian “newspeak.”

From New York Times

It gripped him long before he came up with Big Brother, Oceania, newspeak or the telescreen, and it’s more important than any of them.

From The Guardian

Related Words

• argot
• idiom
• lingo
• parlance
• patois
• slang
• vernacular
• vocabulary