Orwellian

American

[awr-wel-ee-uhn] / ɔrˈwɛl i ən /

adjective

of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling the literary work of George Orwell or the totalitarian future described in his antiutopian novel 1984 (1949).

Etymology

Origin of Orwellian

1945–50; after G. Orwell ( def. ) + -ian

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Orwellian fears are growing about a new kind of surveillance state that was once just the stuff of nightmares.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026

Vance, complains that civil society is a form of “distributed Orwellian despotism.”

From Slate • Apr. 24, 2025

Hopefully, we’ll still be allowed to call it Orwellian.

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2025

But a lawyer for the inquiry branded the move as "absolutely Orwellian".

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2024

It is now called the Bristol Commerce Center, the sort of Orwellian name given to a place where commerce has ceased to exist.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023