red pill
Americannoun
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Slang. something that makes someone aware of some unpleasant but supposedly true and important idea.
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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.
verb (used with object)
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Slang. Often red-pill, to make someone aware of some unpleasant but supposedly true and important idea.
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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
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Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
Turns out the red pill is also a metaphor for awakening.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
The term comes from the 1999 hit film "The Matrix", in which taking a red pill reveals a hidden and often uncomfortable truth.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
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 ● Dec. 26, 2024
As Y2K threatened to destroy modern civilization, millions of people swarmed to “The Matrix” and wondered whether they should choose the red pill or wear a long leather jacket.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2022
It’s a tendency that runs deep — for Kunzru and for many people shuttling between normalcy and alarmism, red pill and blue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2020
Today’s red-pilled men would find much in common with Soames’ worldview, while women may recognize him as a bouquet of red flags wrapped in a bespoke suit.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2026
A portrait of a mind in free fall, red-pilled before we were talking about red-pilling, it is essential viewing for those interested in the possibilities of opera.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2024
It’s everywhere from Netflix to the nightly news, from the Instagram feeds of the red-pilled to the bookshelves of the “woke.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
Daum insists that she was not red-pilled, making few ideological commitments in the book beyond valuing disagreement.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 1, 2019
A portrait of a mind in free fall, red-pilled before we were talking about red-pilling, it is essential viewing for those interested in the possibilities of opera.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2024
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.
