Orwellian

American

[awr-wel-ee-uhn] / ɔrˈwɛl i ən /

adjective

of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling the literary work of George Orwell or the totalitarian future described in his antiutopian novel 1984 (1949).

Etymology

Origin of Orwellian

1945–50; after G. Orwell ( def. ) + -ian

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.

These examples are Orwellian in nature and couldn’t be more antithetical to a society that values freedom of expression.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

The phone had been programmed so that when a South Korean variant of a word is entered, it automatically vanishes, replaced with the North Korean equivalent - an Orwellian move.

From BBC • May 30, 2025

Beers, who was surprised by the win, said the world “seems to become slightly more Orwellian with each passing day.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2025

Hopefully, we’ll still be allowed to call it Orwellian.

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2025

It is now called the Bristol Commerce Center, the sort of Orwellian name given to a place where commerce has ceased to exist.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023