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indoctrinate

[in-dok-truh-neyt]
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verb (used with object), in·doc·tri·nat·ed, in·doc·tri·nat·ing.
  1. to instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology, etc., especially to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.
  2. to teach or inculcate.
  3. to imbue with learning.
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Origin of indoctrinate

1620–30; in-2 + Medieval Latin doctrīnātus past participle of doctrīnāre to teach; see doctrine, -ate1
Related formsin·doc·tri·na·tion, nounin·doc·tri·na·tor, nounre·in·doc·tri·nate, verb (used with object), re·in·doc·tri·nat·ed, re·in·doc·tri·nat·ing.un·in·doc·tri·nat·ed, adjective
Can be confusedinculcate indoctrinate

Synonyms

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1. brainwash, propagandize.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for indoctrinate

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She comes to indoctrinate you, to put you against me, is it not so?

    Doctor Pascal

    Emile Zola

  • So one of your trained psychopropagandists can indoctrinate me?

    Victory

    Lester del Rey

  • She begged him to indoctrinate his successor, Mr. Edward Stanhope.

  • "Oh, certainly; I will indoctrinate Dolly," said the Doctor.

    Poganuc People

    Harriet Beecher Stowe

  • In broad terms, all these publications were designed to indoctrinate specific groups of people, generally in their places of work.

    Area Handbook for Bulgaria

    Eugene K. Keefe, Violeta D. Baluyut, William Giloane, Anne K. Long, James M. Moore, and Neda A. Walpole

British Dictionary definitions for indoctrinate

indoctrinate

verb (tr)
  1. to teach (a person or group of people) systematically to accept doctrines, esp uncritically
  2. rare to impart learning to; instruct
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Derived Formsindoctrination, nounindoctrinator, noun
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 indoctrinate

v.

1620s, "to teach," from in- (2) "in" + Latin doctrina "teaching" (see doctrine). Meaning "to imbue with an idea or opinion" first recorded 1832. Related: Indoctrinated; indoctrinating. The earlier verb was indoctrine (c.1500).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper