hive mind
Americannoun
-
the property of apparent sentience in a colony of social insects acting as a single organism, each insect performing a specific role for the good of the group.
-
Psychology,
-
a collective consciousness, analogous to the behavior of social insects, in which a group of people become aware of their commonality and think and act as a community, sharing their knowledge, thoughts, and resources.
the global hive mind that has emerged with sites like Twitter and Facebook.
-
such a group mentality characterized by uncritical conformity and loss of a sense of individuality and personal accountability.
-
Etymology
Origin of hive mind
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
The Apple TV show is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which most of humanity has been infected with an alien virus creating a peaceful hive mind, with only 13 outliers immune.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
As far as gas prices go, there is no hive mind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
The hive mind is one of genre fiction’s most reliably unsettling tropes, embodying our native fear of being overwhelmed by a force organized around a singular purpose.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2025
By 2055, she thinks many people will be "cognitively connected" - a hive mind of humans and technology via servers, which will help in the sharing of ideas.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2024
Enough to create a hive mind and prank the both of us at once, I thought.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
![]()
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.