red pill

American  

[red pil] / ˈrɛd ˈpɪl /

noun

plural

red pills

1. Slang. something that makes someone aware of some unpleasant but supposedly true and important idea.

2. Slang. an masculinist ideology originating on social media and online forums which frames gender relations as inherently disadvantaging men: also, the subculture surrounding this ideology.

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verb (used with object)

red-pilled, red-pilling

1. Slang. Often red-pill, to make someone aware of some unpleasant but supposedly true and important idea.

2. Slang. Often red-pill, to persuade someone to adopt the masculinist ideology originating on social media and online forums which frames gender relations as inherently disadvantaging men.

adjective

1. Slang. Often, red-pill, relating to a masculinist ideology originating on social media and online forums which frames gender relations as inherently disadvantaging men.

Other Word Forms

• red-pilled adjective

Example Sentences

The establishment red pill that Summers seemed to offer over those tumblers of Glenfiddich promised access to the innermost sanctum of the Matrix, and a chance to see and perhaps to manipulate the secret levers that made the world go round.

From Salon

The film’s centerpiece red pill versus blue pill moment centers the frame among oversized, glowing capsules.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s so ingrained in the public psyche — everyone is always talking about “I’m going down the rabbit hole” or “red pill, blue pill.”

From Los Angeles Times

They could have taken the blue pill and lived in peace but instead they still chose the red pill, he says of Neo and rest, to play the heroes.

From Salon

The concept was first used in the film The Matrix in which Neo, played by Keanu Reeves is offered a choice between a red pill which allows him to question his surroundings, or a blue pill which allows him to continue in a simulated world.

From BBC