Meaning & use
Brainwashed
Last updated
Subjected to systematic, often coercive indoctrination that replaces a person's existing beliefs with a new set of ideas.
See it in a sentence
Critics argued that the cult members had been brainwashed into distrusting their own families.
He felt as though years of propaganda had left him brainwashed about his country's history.
A note on using this word
The term originated during the Korean War era to describe intense psychological pressure on prisoners, translating a Chinese phrase roughly meaning 'wash brain.'
Words with a similar meaning
indoctrinatedconditioned
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
free-thinking
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