brainwash

brainwash

English

Etymology

brain +‎ wash, calque of Chinese 洗腦／洗脑 (xǐnǎo), literally "to wash the brain". Usage via U.S. military during Korean War.

Pronunciation

• enPR: brān'wŏsh, IPA^(key): /ˈbɹeɪnwɒʃ/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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Noun

brainwash (plural brainwashes)

1. A distorting effect upon one's memory, belief, or ideas, as by propaganda.

Translations

effect upon one's memory, belief or ideas — see brain-washing

Verb

brainwash (third-person singular simple present brainwashes, present participle brainwashing, simple past and past participle brainwashed)

1. (psychology) To affect one's mind by using extreme mental pressure or any other mind-affecting process. (e.g. hypnosis)
2. (figuratively, dated) To take from an electronically controlled machine its stored-up information; to erase a computer's programming. (1960)
3. To persuade completely and forcibly.

   The news media brainwashed many people.

Translations

to affect one's mind

Arabic: ّغَسَلَ المُخ‎ (ḡasala l-muḵḵ) Egyptian Arabic: غَسَل الدِماغ‎ (ḡasal id-dimāḡ) Armenian: ուղեղը լվանալ (ułełə lvanal) Catalan: rentar el cervell Chinese: Cantonese: 洗腦, 洗脑 (sai2 nou5) Mandarin: 洗腦 (zh), 洗脑 (zh) (xǐnǎo) Czech: vymýt mozek Danish: hjernevaske Dutch: hersenspoelen (nl) Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: aivopestä (fi) French: décerveler (fr), laver le cerveau, bourrer le crâne (fr) German: einer Gehirnwäsche unterziehen, gehirnwaschen Hebrew: שָׁטַף מֹחַ‎ (shatáf móach) Hungarian: agymosást végez Icelandic: heilaþvo Italian: fare il lavaggio del cervello Japanese: 洗脳する (ja) (せんのうする, sennō suru) Korean: 세뇌하다 (senoehada) Lao: ລ້າງສະໝອງ (lāng sa mǭng) Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Mongolian: тархи угаах (tarxi ugaax) Polish: prać mózg komu impf, wyprać mózg komu pf Portuguese: fazer lavagem cerebral em Romanian: spăla creier Russian: промыва́ть мозги́ impf (promyvátʹ mozgí), промы́ть мозги́ pf (promýtʹ mozgí), зомбировать (ru) impf or pf (zombirovatʹ) Slovak: please add this translation if you can Spanish: lavar el cerebro Swahili: fua bongo Swedish: hjärntvätta (sv) Thai: ล้างสมอง (th) (láang-sà-mɔ̌ɔng) Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: tẩy não (vi)