doublethink

American

[duhb-uhl-thingk] / ˈdʌb əlˌθɪŋk /

noun

the acceptance of two contradictory ideas or beliefs at the same time.

doublethink British

/ ˈdʌbəlˌθɪŋk /

noun

deliberate, perverse, or unconscious acceptance or promulgation of conflicting facts, principles, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of doublethink

double + think ¹; coined by George Orwell in his novel 1984 (1949)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Greene and Bolling really provide a remarkable example of doublethink.

From Salon • Sep. 5, 2025

There’s so much doublethink when it comes to the diet-industrial complex that I can barely stake out a coherent position.

From Slate • Aug. 28, 2019

From Orwell’s evocation of the totalitarian superstate of Oceania, new words entered the language: doublethink, thoughtcrime, newspeak and Big Brother.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 3, 2019

It bombards you with mutually contradictory claims, which often come packaged in doublethink pairs.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 18, 2018

As we have seen, the mystique of the Party, and above all of the Inner Party, depends upon doublethink.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023