doublespeak

[duhb-uhl-speek]

noun

1. evasive, ambiguous language that is intended to deceive or confuse.

doublespeak

/ ˈdʌbəlˌspiːk /

noun

1. the practice of using ambiguous language regarding political, military, or corporate matters in a deliberate attempt to disguise the truth

Other Word Forms

• doublespeaker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of doublespeak¹

First recorded in 1950–55; double + speak, by analogy with doublethink

Idioms and Phrases

see double talk, def. 2.

Example Sentences

But the distinction feels like a retreat into semantics — or what Orwell might refer to as “doublespeak.”

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It’s doublespeak, masking an agenda to galvanize a bloodthirsty base and make state violence sound reasonable, even necessary.

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The lifestyle doublespeak people used to survive under successive dictatorships in Eastern Europe came a little more easily to Poles, who had practiced it before.

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There is a lot of doublespeak, that as women, we have never been as emancipated and free to do what we want as we are today.

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Fox News host Harris Faulkner's doublespeak on the subject drew comparisons to North Korean state media.

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Related Words

• absurd 
• empty 
• futile 
• hollow 
• inconsequential 
• insignificant 
• pointless 
• senseless 
• trivial 
• unimportant 
• useless 
• vague 
• worthless