indoctrinate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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
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indoctrinatessimple
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have indoctrinatedperfect
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has indoctrinatedperfect
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am indoctrinatingprogressive
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are indoctrinatingprogressive
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is indoctrinatingprogressive
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have been indoctrinatingperfect progressive
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has been indoctrinatingperfect progressive
Past
-
indoctrinatedsimple
-
had indoctrinatedperfect
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was indoctrinatingprogressive
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were indoctrinatingprogressive
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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
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1984
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Shout
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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
Afterward, Bandele, 18, said she doesn’t understand arguments that the course would indoctrinate children.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
“The purpose is not to indoctrinate them or guide them in some kind of political philosophy. … The story is so much more complex than simply White people versus Black people,” Higginbotham said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 2, 2022
Do they think we want to indoctrinate kids?
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2022
And naturally, the recent convert to Manicheeism did his best to indoctrinate and convert his patron—so far at least as a careless man like Romanianus could be converted.
From Saint Augustin by O'Sullivan, Vincent
"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 Yonge, Charlotte Mary
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", Thorne told Radio 4's Front Row.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 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
Was it simply expected that he would become indoctrinated into the blinding passion of the Mojo mystique just like everyone else?
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
“It’s in charge of indoctrinating the kids,” said Hanan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
Ultimately, “everyone is capable of indoctrinating themselves at any time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 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
Chaplin’s character ultimately meets a terrible fate for leading on the men and indoctrinating their children with ideas that challenge the family order.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2023
He wanted no trouble—they had spent a year with him on Earth, indoctrinating that.
From Earthsmith by Marlowe, Stephen
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.
