Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or evocative of the works of George Orwell, especially the satirical novel 1984, which depicts a futuristic totalitarian state.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Resembling the totalitarian political methods decried in the works of
British democratic socialist andwriter George Orwell, particularly in thedystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four; characterized by use of misleadingterminology ,propaganda ,censorship ,totalitarianism ,surveillance andrepression .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or relating to the works of George Orwell (especially his picture of a future totalitarian state)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Orwellian is a word too easily, and usually wrongly, tossed about, but, really, here we are entering the Land of War-Is-Peace.
A sterling suggestion ... Frank Wilson 2006
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My answer to them is "have you ever used the term Orwellian to describe what's happening in America today?"
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Another minor point here is the lazy use of the term Orwellian in Anthony's piece, to describe the revolutionary fraternity associated with the term 'Brother.'
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One might reach for the term Orwellian to describe such events, perhaps because there is no fitting way to convey the "up is down, black is white" sense of what has happened in Iraq and what is happening there now.
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Althouse criticizes what she calls the Orwellian use of “conversation” in current national debates:
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The word Orwellian is still used to describe the language and actions of politicians who say one thing but carry out other, usually contradictory deeds.
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To call this Labour government "Orwellian" is an understatement.
Surveillance Britain (part xx) Not a sheep 2009
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The word "Orwellian" is a daunting example of the fate that a distinguished writer can suffer at the hands of journalists.
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But you can't call it "Orwellian," because that means Big Brother, Newspeak, the Gestapo, the K.G.B., the Stasi, and any other totalitarian obscenity that has ever reared its head or ever will.
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The adjective "Orwellian" is often used to describe any real world scenario reminiscent of the novel.
Background information for George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four 1949
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