Jonestown

American  

[johnz-toun] / ˈdʒoʊnzˌtaʊn /

noun

1. a former settlement in northern Guyana, northwest of Georgetown: an agricultural commune of an American religious cult called the Peoples Temple, infamous as the site of a mass suicide and murder in 1978.

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Example Sentences

Then, of course, came Jonestown.

From Salon

More recently, documentaries like “Wild Wild Country,” “The Vow” and a million rehashes of the stories of Jonestown and the Branch Davidians of Waco have cemented an image of dangerous leaders with spellbound devotees who commit heinous acts.

From Salon

She inhabits each character fully, down to their fingertips, whether that’s as a member of a fictional basketball team, the Jonestown Jumpers, at the Annoyance; the neurotic, intense but ultimately chill Nandika on “Deli Boys;” or Issa on “Adults,” the youngest and perhaps most Gen Z of the bunch.

From Los Angeles Times

In the first episode of the Apple TV+ show “The Studio,” Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese sells his script to the fictional Continental Studios, only to be told later by a studio chief played by Seth Rogen that the project, about Jonestown, has been killed.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, most resemble the residents of Jonestown, many who hoped Jim Jones was testing their faith with all this poison-Kool-Aid talk, which allowed them to play along until it was too late to save themselves.

From Salon