deprogram
Americanverb (used with object)
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to free (a convert) from the influence of a religious cult, political indoctrination, etc., by intensive persuasion or reeducation.
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to retrain, as for the purpose of eliminating or replacing a learned or acquired behavior pattern or habit that is undesirable or unsuitable.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of deprogram
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:
How do we deprogram ourselves when we think about the crisis in masculinity, starting with a crisis for men and boys of color in particular?
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2022
“I thought it was time to deprogram that thought.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 12, 2021
A renowned authority on mind control encounters a formidable challenge when he is hired to deprogram a strong-willed cultist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2021
It is hard work to deprogram ourselves of institutionalized language, even for the best of those reporting on abuses in the criminal legal system, even for me at times.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 18, 2020
I deprogram the air filters and open the windows.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Seeing my devastation, he concocted a weak compliment--"nice growth formation of the hair"--but I was already woefully deprogramed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Back in July, Stout posted a TikTok where she explains how she essentially deprogrammed herself from far-right ideology, and it went viral—it has over 3 million views.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2025
I believe in standing up against such evil I have been confronting danger since I was deprogrammed from the Moonies 48 years ago.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2024
“We are getting deprogrammed right now,” he said with a rueful chuckle.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 23, 2022
“He’s been deprogrammed and he can no longer hide from all that baggage,” says Spellman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2021
Scott never found out that his mother deprogrammed the VCR, cleared its memory and 'Twelved' the clock an hour before he arrived to show her how to use it.
From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn
Braxton: Meredith, my hope is one day deprogramming you away from those horrid “Housewives.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2023
He's written multiple books about deprogramming, has testified as an expert in dozens of court cases, has been sued and tracked by Keith Raniere, the founder of NXIVM, and was on David Koresh's "enemy list."
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2022
One of my closest friends worked with Ted Patrick back in the 1980s, deprogramming cult members who'd been kidnapped or lured away from their cults.
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2021
For Korver, that confidence base includes deprogramming some of the ways women are socialized.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2021
So, for me, going to college was deprogramming who other people thought I was.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2021
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.
