What does doublethink mean?
Doublethink is the practice of simultaneously holding two contradictory beliefs and accepting both as true, typically without registering the conflict. Coined by George Orwell in his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), the term originally described a discipline imposed by a totalitarian state, in which citizens were trained to accept whatever contradiction the Party required of them. In modern usage it has broadened considerably: it now denotes any form of self-deception or intellectual dishonesty in which a person reconciles incompatible ideas, values, or loyalties. The word is invariably pejorative, implying a failure — whether coerced or voluntary — of honest reasoning. It appears frequently in political commentary, media criticism, and psychological discussion, often alongside related concepts such as doublespeak (evasive language) and cognitive dissonance (the discomfort caused by conflicting beliefs). Because of its vivid Orwellian pedigree, doublethink remains one of the most recognizable terms for describing systematic self-contradiction.
nounThe act of simultaneously accepting two contradictory beliefs or ideas as correct, typically without noticing the conflict. The term was coined by George Orwell in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and is now used more broadly for any self-deceptive mental accommodation of contradiction.
- The mental capacity or practice of accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as true at the same time, especially through self-deception (originating in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four).
- By extension, any habitual or systematic self-contradiction or intellectual dishonesty.
"Surviving under the regime required a constant exercise of doublethink, holding loyalty and doubt in the same mind at once."
"He managed, through sheer doublethink, to insist that the policy was both a success and never his idea."
"The memoir is a candid study of the doublethink that let her preach frugality while living extravagantly."
Rarely pluralized; doublethink is almost always used as an uncountable noun referring to the practice or capacity in general.
"The book catalogues the small daily doublethinks by which he justified his compromises."
Orwell invented 'doublethink' in 1949 to describe holding two contradictory beliefs at once — and it's now so embedded in English that we use it to describe politics he never lived to see.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of doublethink
Doublethink was coined by the English writer George Orwell in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, where he described it as 'to know and not to know... to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out.' The word is a transparent compound of 'double' (from Latin duplex via Old French doble) and 'think' (from Old English þencan). Though invented as literary fiction, it entered general English vocabulary almost immediately and has been in continuous use since. It shares its second element with native Germanic words such as thinker, thoughtful, and bethink.
How doublethink is actually used
The word carries strongly negative connotations of self-deception or ideological complicity. It is closely associated with Orwellian criticism of propaganda and authoritarianism, but is also applied to everyday hypocrisy. Usually uncountable; 'a doublethink' occurs only rarely.
Easily confused with doublethink
Doublespeak is deliberately evasive or misleading language used to obscure truth, whereas doublethink is the internal act of holding two contradictory beliefs at once.