This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
brainwash
or brain-wash, brain wash
[ breyn-wosh, -wawsh ]
/ ˈbreɪnˌwɒʃ, -ˌwɔʃ /
Save This Word!
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
verb (used with object)
to cause (someone) to undergo brainwashing.
noun
the process of brainwashing.
a subjection to brainwashing.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Origin of brainwash
First recorded in 1950–55; back formation from brainwashing
OTHER WORDS FROM brainwash
brainwasher, nounWords nearby brainwash
brainteaser, Braintree, brain trust, brain truster, brain up, brainwash, brainwashing, brain wave, brainwork, brainworm, brainy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use brainwash in a sentence
Icons is the attempt of Mr. Brainwash, who represents himself, to storm New York.
Over time, he became a street artist himself: the splendidly named Mr. Brainwash.
A friend had heard that Mr. Brainwash had staked everything he had on this show.
This makes any attempts to brainwash the enlisted men impracticable and a great deal of pressure is thereby removed.
I Was a Teen-Age Secret Weapon|Richard Sabia
British Dictionary definitions for brainwash
brainwash
/ (ˈbreɪnˌwɒʃ) /
verb
(tr) to effect a radical change in the ideas and beliefs of (a person), esp by methods based on isolation, sleeplessness, hunger, extreme discomfort, pain, and the alternation of kindness and cruelty
Derived forms of brainwash
brainwasher, nounbrainwashing, nounCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012