indoctrinate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
indoctrinates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
indoctrinated,
past participle, past
-
indoctrinating
present participle
-
to instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology, etc., especially to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.
- Synonyms:
- propagandize, brainwash
-
to teach or inculcate.
-
to imbue with learning.
verb
-
to teach (a person or group of people) systematically to accept doctrines, esp uncritically
-
rare to impart learning to; instruct
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
indoctrinatesimple
-
indoctrinatessimple
-
have indoctrinatedperfect
-
has indoctrinatedperfect
-
am indoctrinatingprogressive
-
are indoctrinatingprogressive
-
is indoctrinatingprogressive
-
have been indoctrinatingperfect progressive
-
has been indoctrinatingperfect progressive
Past
-
indoctrinatedsimple
-
had indoctrinatedperfect
-
was indoctrinatingprogressive
-
were indoctrinatingprogressive
-
had been indoctrinatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of indoctrinate
First recorded in 1620–30; in- 2 + Medieval Latin doctrīnātus, past participle of doctrīnāre “to teach”; see doctrine, -ate 1
Explanation
If you indoctrinate someone, you teach that person a one-sided view of something and ignore or dismiss opinions that don’t agree with your view. Cults, political entities, and even fans of particular sports teams are often said to indoctrinate their followers. If you indoctrinate someone, the goal is to have that person follow a particular set of beliefs (or a doctrine), rather than being able to think independently or know right from wrong. For example, a child may be indoctrinated into a life of violence by growing up in a war-torn region, or a student may be indoctrinated into a life as a Marxist by an influential political science professor.
Vocabulary lists containing indoctrinate
Grade 11, List 2
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
1984
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Shout
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
"Smartphones are now part and parcel of the way North Korea tries to indoctrinate people", says Mr Williams.
From BBC ● May 30, 2025
In the film, Gosling’s Ken — Barbie’s anxiety-ridden, try-hard, beta-status boyfriend — is revitalized by the patriarchy of the real world and returns to indoctrinate everyone in Barbieland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2023
Now he’s emerged as a particularly vocal Muslim advocate against what he calls an attempt to indoctrinate children.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2023
Packer added that questions posed revealed a lack of understanding about the topics at hand, such as whether the course would indoctrinate students into “Black Panther thinking.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 9, 2023
In broad terms, all these publications were designed to indoctrinate specific groups of people, generally in their places of work.
From Area Handbook for Bulgaria by Violeta D. Baluyut
"That's how manipulative it is - it indoctrinates you."
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2025
I'm thinking about the jurisprudence that, even more directly if more subtly, has expanded First Amendment protections of the commercial speech that indoctrinates us, 24/7, to embrace narrow, self-interested strategies of "self-improvement" and protection.
From Salon ● May 29, 2022
There is so much literature and culture that indoctrinates all humans, and the disempowered, to repress their justified rage and righteous anger.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2018
No one indoctrinates when he is under observation.
From Time Magazine Archive
Your fair daughter was but as ever preparing beforehand with me the tasks with which she so kindly indoctrinates her little sisters.
From The Chaplet of Pearls by Charlotte Mary Yonge
Again the U.S. hit a brick wall called Europe and a team of players for whom the World Cup assignment is an indoctrinated dream from Day One.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
He relaxed strict dress codes for agents, recruited female agents and pointedly hired people from outside the agency – who were not indoctrinated in the Hoover culture – for administrative posts.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025
The central character had been "indoctrinated by voices" like Andrew Tate's and "voices a lot more dangerous than Andrew Tate's", one of its writers, Jack Thorne told Radio 4's Front Row.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2025
“We’re all indoctrinated into thinking that there’s nothing more important than autonomy, but it’s a very mixed blessing,” says Schwartz.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2024
But on this expedition he had been cast in the role of invincible guide, there to look after me and the other clients; we had been specifically indoctrinated not to question our guides’ judgment.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
The usual assumption is that professors are indoctrinating students, but that’s too simple.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
That includes indoctrinating new players into the Chiefs’ system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
As comments amass over time, eliciting upvotes and increasingly meta discourse, the recipe starts branching off into infinite variations — some small, some large — perhaps indoctrinating itself into some readers’ regular cooking repertoire.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2023
So whether the team rips off the proverbial Band-Aid by immediately indoctrinating Beniers in his envisioned future role will say plenty about this season’s goals.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2022
He had never succeeded, however, in thoroughly indoctrinating his daughter.
From The Bread-winners A Social Study by John Hay
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.
