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 and writer George Orwell, particularly in the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four; characterized by use of misleading terminology, propaganda, censorship, totalitarianism, surveillance and repression.

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

Orwell +‎ -ian

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Orwellian.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.