brainwash
Americanverb (used with object)
-
brainwashes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
brainwashed,
past participle, past
-
brainwashing
present participle
noun
-
the process of brainwashing.
-
a subjection to brainwashing.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
brainwashsimple
-
brainwashessimple
-
have brainwashedperfect
-
has brainwashedperfect
-
am brainwashingprogressive
-
are brainwashingprogressive
-
is brainwashingprogressive
-
have been brainwashingperfect progressive
-
has been brainwashingperfect progressive
Past
-
brainwashedsimple
-
had brainwashedperfect
-
was brainwashingprogressive
-
were brainwashingprogressive
-
had been brainwashingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brainwash
First recorded in 1950–55; back formation from brainwashing
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.
See Examples For:
“It created a model that proved to local municipalities, to local politicians that these spaces weren’t dangerous places that are going to brainwash your kids or whatever.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
"And that's what they do to brainwash," she continued.
From Salon ● May 25, 2023
He said that unscrupulous leaders are able to brainwash people and take advantage of their desire to find a solution to their problems.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2023
“If we had the power to brainwash kids, we’d have them do their homework.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2022
They can design dream weapons that come to life in my hands, but they will never again brainwash me into the necessity of using them.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Young people mustn’t watch too many films with violence because it brainwashes and disturbs them.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 6, 2015
I am not saying the Army brainwashes you.
From Time Magazine Archive
In a totalitarian sci-fi world, a hammer thrown by a young athlete smashes a "Big Brother" figure declaiming to brainwashed citizens from a vast screen.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
Mark Harris realized that his father and Freeman had brainwashed him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
She said: "Technologies are advancing and becoming more complex and almost controlling. Some people could be brainwashed into thinking some things that are not real."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2025
The idea that someone could be brainwashed to the point of self-destruction shook the public to its core.
From Salon ● May 18, 2025
When Ms. Rosario was working, which was almost all the time, Mosley stopped by to make sure Michael hadn’t been kidnapped by psychopaths or brainwashed by daytime television.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
"Actually, there's brainwashing here in China too, but it's not as severe," he said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
The story involved Cold War brainwashing and the development and testing of atomic weapons.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
O’Neill also explains that psychiatrist Louis Jolyon “Jolly” West, who is known to have ties to the MKUltra project, was conducting research on brainwashing in the Haight-Ashbury area at that time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2025
As long as this public perception remains and compounds with Stake’s already shady reputation, then the brainwashing might fall flat.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2024
We troop down for the brainwashing and she can’t stop talking.
From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
