ORWELLIAN Definition & Meaning

Orwellian

[ awr-wel-ee-uhn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling the literary work of George Orwell or the totalitarian future described in his antiutopian novel 1984 (1949).

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Orwellian¹

1945–50; after G. Orwell ( def ) + -ian

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

As adjectives go, “Orwellian” tends to be prematurely invoked — and hyperbolically, if often in good faith.

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Boyer said it speaks to a kind of “Orwellian absurdity” that “these words can only have one meaning, and it’s the meaning that they would like to politicize.”

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In Trump’s trademark Orwellian spin, his executive order weaponizing the DOJ was titled, “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”

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In a matter of hours, an American strongman had achieved the long-held dream of the far right, to toss the wave of liberations of the Long Sixties down an Orwellian memory hole … .

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ABC’s decision to pay Trump and apologize nonetheless is an Orwellian warning that, when covering an ascendent fascist, up will be down and down will be up, and only Trump can decide which is which.

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