Brainwashing
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Brainwashing is a noun meaning present participle and gerund of brainwash.
Meaning
present participle and gerund of brainwash.
More Meanings
- A form of indoctrination that forces people to abandon their beliefs in favour of another set of beliefs by conditioning through various forms of pressure or torture.
Example Sentences
All new prisoners were assigned to "study groups" or "introductory teams" that were responsible for applying a variety of brain-washing techniques designed to break down all old beliefs and attitudes and replace them with Communist-Socialist thoughts.
So it came about, through Pavlov's work, that the Soviets developed and perfected the 'brain-washing' technique seen to be so effective in the state trials of the 1930s. An amazed world witnessed the sight of intelligent and renowned figures genuinely confessing to criminal acts against the state, or voicing ideological dogma in a total reversal of their previously held values.
Word Forms
- brainwashings
- brain-washing
Synonyms for brainwashing
Depending on context, synonyms include menticide, programming, reeducation.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include menticide, indoctrination, deprogramming, indoctrinating, indoctrinations, propaganda.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.