MEANING
To subject someone to intensive coercive persuasion intended to reshape their beliefs or loyalties.
Use it for
Captivity used to erase independent judgment; imposed loyalty; repeated coercive conditioningShow the coercive environment rather than treating belief change as instant magic.
Words that belong together
- brainwash captives
- brainwashed recruit
- systematic brainwashing
On the page
The captors tried to brainwash the recruits through isolation and repetition.
She feared the missing students had been brainwashed.
The survivor described attempts to brainwash him, but also the beliefs he had resisted.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- brainwash / brainwashes
- Past tense
- brainwashed
- Past participle
- brainwashed
- Present participle
- brainwashing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- brainwash / brainwashes
- Present continuous
- am/is/are brainwashing
- Present perfect
- have/has brainwashed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been brainwashing
- Past
- brainwashed
- Past continuous
- was/were brainwashing
- Past perfect
- had brainwashed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been brainwashing
- Future
- will brainwash / brainwashes
- Future continuous
- will be brainwashing
- Future perfect
- will have brainwashed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been brainwashing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Often broad or polemical; not a precise account of one uniform psychological technique. Distinguish coercion from ordinary education or persuasion. Verb [base, third-person present, past, past participle, -ing]: brainwash, brainwashes, brainwashed, brainwashed, brainwashing.
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