brainwash
Americanverb (used with object)
-
brainwashes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
brainwashed,
past participle, past
-
brainwashing
present participle
noun
-
the process of brainwashing.
-
a subjection to brainwashing.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
brainwashsimple
-
brainwashessimple
-
have brainwashedperfect
-
has brainwashedperfect
-
am brainwashingprogressive
-
are brainwashingprogressive
-
is brainwashingprogressive
-
have been brainwashingperfect progressive
-
has been brainwashingperfect progressive
Past
-
brainwashedsimple
-
had brainwashedperfect
-
was brainwashingprogressive
-
were brainwashingprogressive
-
had been brainwashingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brainwash
First recorded in 1950–55; back formation from brainwashing
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:
As legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern explained at Slate, Alito “reframes these utterly innocent children’s books as insidious propaganda designed to brainwash children.”
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2025
The Bombay and Gujarat high courts warned that censorship couldn't be used to "brainwash the public".
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025
“It created a model that proved to local municipalities, to local politicians that these spaces weren’t dangerous places that are going to brainwash your kids or whatever.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
“If we had the power to brainwash kids, we’d have them do their homework.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2022
They can design dream weapons that come to life in my hands, but they will never again brainwash me into the necessity of using them.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Young people mustn’t watch too many films with violence because it brainwashes and disturbs them.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 6, 2015
I am not saying the Army brainwashes you.
From Time Magazine Archive
In a totalitarian sci-fi world, a hammer thrown by a young athlete smashes a "Big Brother" figure declaiming to brainwashed citizens from a vast screen.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
Mark Harris realized that his father and Freeman had brainwashed him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
They have been brainwashed into thinking it's not just 'the right way' to play, it's also 'the only way' - but there are many pitfalls to this approach and my priorities were always very different.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025
The idea that someone could be brainwashed to the point of self-destruction shook the public to its core.
From Salon ● May 18, 2025
Leave it to Grandma to think getting yourself brainwashed is something to celebrate, I thought.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
"Actually, there's brainwashing here in China too, but it's not as severe," he said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
"It means they're willing to die but not let the regime fall - because they think its fall means the end of their religion. That's how effectively the regime does brainwashing."
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
While acknowledging that there are still some loose threads to this theory, O’Neill suggests that Manson possibly had connections to secret government programs researching mind control and brainwashing, such as the CIA’s project MKUltra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2025
As long as this public perception remains and compounds with Stake’s already shady reputation, then the brainwashing might fall flat.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2024
In the past he had had the reputation of being recalcitrant, stubborn, a player who marched to his own beat and always seemed to fight off the brainwashing aspects of the Mojo mystique.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
