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Pop Culture dictionary results for gaslighting

gaslighting

American  

[gas-lahy-ting] / ˈgæsˌlaɪ tɪŋ /

noun

1. the use of psychological manipulation to undermine a person’s faith in their own judgment, memory, or sanity.

   Gaslighting is not restricted to romantic relationships, but also occurs in friendships and among family members.

2. the practice of deceiving people through the repetition of a constructed false narrative.

   It’s not uncommon for victims of gaslighting to argue passionately in favor of the story they’ve been fed.

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Etymology

Origin of gaslighting

First recorded in 1815–25, for a literal sense; 1960–65, for the current senses; gaslight ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

Gaslighting is when someone arguing with you lies and twists things so convincingly that you wonder, "Am I crazy? Am I losing my memory?" If someone takes your brownie and says, "No, you ate it, remember? You even said you liked the nuts in it!" — that’s gaslighting. This sense of gaslighting first appeared in the 1960s and is now the only meaning, since gas has not been used for lighting for a long time. It comes from a British play called Gas Light, written in 1838 by Patrick Hamilton. The play was a thriller in which a man causes his wife to question her sanity by secretly changing the brightness of the gas lights in their home when leaving her alone, all the while pretending that no such change has occurred.

Example Sentences

When TV deals started to exceed eight figures, to pretend this arrangement was equitable would be Gaslighting 101.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2023

Gaslighting is one of his specialties, so who knows what he has told extended family members.

From Washington Post • Jan. 19, 2023

Gaslighting is harmful not only because it draws from and exacerbates social inequalities but because it becomes internalized in a context of isolation, making one question one's sense of self.

From Scientific American • Sep. 22, 2022

Gaslighting her into thinking she was abandoned by Lord Babington because of her difficulties conceiving was bad enough, but hurting her health was getting into gothic territory, I felt.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2022

Matthews, who, in 1827 published an "Historical Sketch of Gaslighting," in which he states that he had "the inexpressible gratification of witnessing, in 1802, Mr. Murdoch's extraordinary and splendid exhibition of gaslights at Soho."

From Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham A History and Guide Arranged Alphabetically by Harman, Thomas T.