deprogram
Americanverb (used with object)
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to free (a convert) from the influence of a religious cult, political indoctrination, etc., by intensive persuasion or reeducation.
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to retrain, as for the purpose of eliminating or replacing a learned or acquired behavior pattern or habit that is undesirable or unsuitable.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of deprogram
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:
A renowned authority on mind control encounters a formidable challenge when he is hired to deprogram a strong-willed cultist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2021
It is hard work to deprogram ourselves of institutionalized language, even for the best of those reporting on abuses in the criminal legal system, even for me at times.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 18, 2020
“You get kind of goofy and start identifying with your captor, so to speak. And I would call people at night and say, ‘Look, deprogram me.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2020
I wanted to deprogram them, help them see that beauty was feral and wild, democratic and free, that it belonged to us wherever and however and whoever we were.
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2020
I deprogram the air filters and open the windows.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Seeing my devastation, he concocted a weak compliment--"nice growth formation of the hair"--but I was already woefully deprogramed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Back in July, Stout posted a TikTok where she explains how she essentially deprogrammed herself from far-right ideology, and it went viral—it has over 3 million views.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2025
When I was anointed a reporter at 21, I felt as if I had been inducted into a knightly order dedicated to Truth and I’ve never been totally deprogrammed.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2023
“We are getting deprogrammed right now,” he said with a rueful chuckle.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 23, 2022
“He’s been deprogrammed and he can no longer hide from all that baggage,” says Spellman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2021
Scott never found out that his mother deprogrammed the VCR, cleared its memory and 'Twelved' the clock an hour before he arrived to show her how to use it.
From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Winn Schwartau
"Counter-terrorism police and Prevent are excellent at deprogramming children who have been caught into ideological movements," she told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
He's written multiple books about deprogramming, has testified as an expert in dozens of court cases, has been sued and tracked by Keith Raniere, the founder of NXIVM, and was on David Koresh's "enemy list."
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2022
This is the beginning of intense deprogramming, and I just hope to God the people that help her along the way are actually there for the right reasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2021
For Korver, that confidence base includes deprogramming some of the ways women are socialized.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2021
The next day, Hassan’s father told him they were going to visit his mother, but when they drove by the exit to his parents’ house, Hassan realized he had been tricked into further deprogramming.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2021
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.
