BRAINWASHED Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

brainwashed

verb

past tense of brainwash

as in convinced

to cause (someone) to think or believe something by using methods that make a person unable to think normally Terrorists brainwashed the prisoners. Does advertising brainwash children?

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of brainwashed Some of them are derelict minors who have been captured by the settler organizations, taken to outposts in the Palestinian territories, brainwashed, and taught to kill. — David Shulman, The New York Review of Books, 26 Aug. 2026 How many people were brainwashed into showing up for a riot and then imprisoned for their actions over an idea that was never really theirs? — Will Cady, SPIN, 30 July 2026 People who vote for MAGA Republicans are mentally challenged and brainwashed. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 22 June 2026 Society has brainwashed us for decades into bottling our emotions, saying less, not rocking the boat, and just carrying so much on our shoulders. — Laura Sirikul, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026 The siblings had been brainwashed, abused and groomed while growing up in a cult led by Bernie Hoffman, an apocalyptic preacher and false prophet known to the world as Tony Alamo. — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 28 May 2026 These young girls have been brainwashed by a political movement that exists to disenfranchise them. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 May 2026 Bistline further claimed that Bateman brainwashed her and initially convinced her to lie to authorities during her first interview with authorities in 2023. — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026 What, are you being brainwashed by communists? — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 7 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for brainwashed

Verb

Ultimately, what convinced many of her colleagues was the reassurance that citizens would not have decisional power; the parliament had a duty to consider their recommendations but could decide not to adopt them.

— Esther King, The Dial, 15 Sep. 2026
Kim, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, also said he was not convinced Republicans would work with Democrats next year to roll back or delay the scheduled Medicaid cuts.

— Lauren Morganbesser, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of convinced

Verb

The Jets tried to trade him during the summer, but were never able to get the deal that satisfied Kevin Cheveldayoff.

— Max Bultman, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Instead of recognizing that a 1-paragraph block is not a 10-paragraph block, the generation engine assumed that formatting the technical specifications neatly satisfied the underlying intent.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of satisfied

Verb

Mortgage rates are influenced by inflation, Federal Reserve policy and bond-market investors’ expectations for the economy, among other factors.

— Alex Veiga, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
His vibrant, psychedelic style was reported to have heavily influenced the Beatles’ 1968 film Yellow Submarine.

— News Desk, Artforum, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of influenced

Verb

That outlay has brought Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez, Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro to Stamford Bridge, while their latest arrival from the south-coast side, centre-forward Danny Welbeck, was secured for a much more modest £5m this summer.

— Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
Pritzker believes the city and state have learned to respond to the tactics that Bovino and his men brought, and those that continue.

— Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of brought

Verb

In 2015, a Tourbillon Souverain Blue in tantalum sold for 550,000 Swiss francs (about $547,000), four times the price of the platinum version.

— Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 14 Sep. 2026
Without any further time with the iPhone Duo, no one appears to know whether the cases sold by Apple would require this feature to be enabled.

— James Peckham, PC Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of sold

Verb

Still, Musk has been known to want to sleep close to the action when a new project interested him or required his direct attention.

— Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
This question interested me as a computational biophysicist who studies how living systems process information and adapt to changing environments.

— Shiladitya Banerjee, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of interested

Verb

One aspect that was absolutely beneficial to Def Jam is that having him in that role attracted a lot of amazing talent.

— Alex Gonzalez, VIBE.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Andersen said Rhone’s position between its startup years and a larger growth phase attracted her to the company.

— Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of attracted

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“Brainwashed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brainwashed. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of brainwashed

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