red pill

noun

variants or less commonly Red Pill
plural red pills also Red Pills
slang
: something that causes someone to become aware of or recognize the truth or facts (as of a situation)
usually used in the phrase take the red pill
take the red pill and learn more about the leading causes of climate change and its effects.Elizabeth Jenkins
often used by and about followers of ultra-conservative or extremist ideologies to refer to the adoption of such ideologies
But taking the red pill … is much more commonly used on the internet to denote a right-wing political awakening.Jake Swearingen
… a term used in masculinist communities, "taking the red pill", which describes awakening to the "fact" that women are vain and vacuous and select their partners solely on genetically determined physical attributes.Newsweek.com
sometimes used before another noun
the red pill movement
red piller noun
plural red pillers

Word History

Etymology

from a scene in the American science fiction film The Matrix (1999) in which the protagonist must choose between a blue pill that would cause him to forget his recent experiences and return to his former life, and a red pill that would show him the real world, in which humans live in a simulated reality created by intelligent machines that have enslaved them

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of red pill was in 1999

Dictionary Entries Near red pill

Cite this Entry

“Red pill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red%20pill. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Entry added
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