as in convincing
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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Recent Examples of brainwashing
James Unnever, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 May 2025
If brainwashing doesn’t work, defendants can hardly claim it as a defense.
—Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
Erin Qualey, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brainwashing
Verb
If these universities are truly the factories of leftist brainwashing that conservatives claim, shouldn’t these men have emerged as progressive ideologues themselves?
—James Unnever, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 May 2025
If brainwashing doesn’t work, defendants can hardly claim it as a defense.
—Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
Noun
Maurice is convinced that Tall Pines is brainwashing teens and then sending them to who-knows-where to work as spies.
—Erin Qualey, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brainwashing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brainwashing
Verb
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The more information out there about you, the more personalized and convincing scam calls become.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
15 Oct. 2025
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Voodoo was also meant to get Prince’s attention, with the hope of convincing the Purple One to collaborate with D and Quest on an album — essentially, to serve as an audition for Prince — but that’s another story.—
Touré,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
O’Leary was tapped for his broad experience in government affairs, lobbying and entertainment.—
Pamela McClintock,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Oct. 2025
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Advertisement Black Americans resisted through legal challenges, protests, and lobbying.—
Time,
Time,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Stay tuned for more from today’s programming, like Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, the CEOs of Best Buy, Land O’Lakes, and Ulta Beauty, how the courts are influencing American business, and much, much more.—
Emma Hinchliffe,
Fortune,
14 Oct. 2025
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Jon Devine, senior economist at Cotton Incorporated, keeps key stakeholders in the textile and investment communities informed via timely market analyses of commodity economics and factors influencing their stability.—
SJ Guest Editorial,
Sourcing Journal,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Basically, to find this seduction.—
Eileen Falkenberg-Hull,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
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If last season at Tom Ford was about seduction, spring-summer 2026 is about desire.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There are passable jump scares, plus some quease-inducing locations, effectively exploited by production designer Christopher Hare and cinematographer Andrew Scott Baird.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
13 Oct. 2025
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BluSail Golitz Studios in Morehead City is a creativity-inducing place to play with clay.—
Jennifer Prince,
Southern Living,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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At a reunion special, Conner read a heartfelt letter acknowledging his past and emphasizing the possibility of healing, bringing both himself and Whitney to tears.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Oct. 2025
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SpaceX’s Starship, the biggest and most powerful spacecraft ever launched, successfully completed its 11th test flight, bringing the company closer to sending humans to other worlds.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The book is on track to be one of the best-selling memoirs of this year.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
15 Oct. 2025
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The film is adapted from the popular YA novel of the same name by New York Times best-selling author Courtney Summers.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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They’ve been almost monomaniacally determined to deliver a climactic final eight episodes that provide not only a feeling of resolution, but of satisfying inevitability.—
Kate Aurthur,
Variety,
15 Oct. 2025
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This picture book is immersive, evoking the itch of a sweater or the satisfying softness of a banana (as opposed to other intolerably crunchy snacks).—
Sara Rowe Mount,
Parents,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brainwashing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brainwashing. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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