indoctrinate
verb
Did you know?
Indoctrinate means "brainwash" to many people, but its meaning isn't always so negative. When the verb first appeared in English in the 17th century, it simply meant "to teach"—a meaning linked closely to its source, the Latin verb docēre, which also means "to teach." (Other offspring of docēre include docile, doctor, document, and, of course, doctrine). By the 19th century, indoctrinate was being used in the sense of teaching someone to fully accept only the ideas, opinions, and beliefs of a particular group.
Examples of indoctrinate in a Sentence
Jason Lloyd, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025
The meetings came after weeks of accusations by lawmakers that TikTok was pushing pro-Palestine videos into users’ For You pages, quietly indoctrinating America’s young people against the state of Israel.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 10 Jan. 2025
They are being educated mostly in Mandarin and indoctrinated with official Chinese values of loyalty and patriotism.
—Chris Buckley, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
The Chinese government is separating Tibetan children from their families and placing them in boarding schools, where they are indoctrinated in loyalty to Beijing.
—The Staff Of The Morning, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Indoctrinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indoctrinate. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
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indoctrinate
verb
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