brainwashing
or brain-wash·ing, brain wash·ing
[breyn-wosh-ing, -waw-shing]
- a method for systematically changing attitudes or altering beliefs, originated in totalitarian countries, especially through the use of torture, drugs, or psychological-stress techniques.
- any method of controlled systematic indoctrination, especially one based on repetition or confusion: brainwashing by TV commercials.
- an instance of subjecting or being subjected to such techniques: efforts to halt the brainwashing of captive audiences.
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Origin of brainwashing
brainwash
or brain-wash, brain wash
[breyn-wosh, -wawsh]
- to cause (someone) to undergo brainwashing.
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- the process of brainwashing.
- a subjection to brainwashing.
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Origin of brainwash
First recorded in 1950–55; back formation from brainwashing
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for brainwashing
Contemporary Examples
“Immediately the brainwashing began,” Egan told The Daily Beast.
‘I Considered Suicide,’ Alleged Sex Abuse Victim of Bryan Singer Tells The Daily BeastTim Teeman
April 18, 2014
“I think of a cult as brainwashing followers in some kind of weird philosophy,” he wrote in an email.
Why comics are diversifying—and what their creators say to groups accusing them of 'brainwashing' kids.
Historical Examples
"They certainly did a good job of brainwashing you, boy," Osmond sighed.
The Blue TowerEvelyn E. Smith
But the targets of this brainwashing will do well to look to their Central European neighbours for an antidote.
After the RainSam Vaknin
The Lhari don't watch me too closely—they figure that anything I do they'll catch in the brainwashing.
The Colors of SpaceMarion Zimmer Bradley
They should have done a better job of brainwashing, if they expected him to skulk in like a scared rabbit!
The Colors of SpaceMarion Zimmer Bradley
The world was going to be run by telepaths, psychosis eliminated by brainwashing, intellect developed by hypnotic suggestion.
This Crowded EarthRobert Bloch
brainwash
- (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
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for brainwashing
n.
1950, a literal translation of Chinese xi nao. A term from the Korean War.
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brainwash
v.
1955 (past participle adjective brainwashed attested from 1953); see brainwashing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
brainwashing
(brān′wŏsh′ĭng)- Inducing a person to modify his or her beliefs, attitudes, or behavior by conditioning through various forms of pressure or torture.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
brainwashing
Indoctrination that forces people to abandon their beliefs in favor of another set of beliefs. Usually associated with military and political interrogation and religious conversion, brainwashing attempts, through prolonged stress, to break down an individual's physical and mental defenses. Brainwashing techniques range from vocal persuasion and threats to punishment, physical deprivation, mind-altering drugs, and severe physical torture.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.