Standard Lemma guide

doublethink

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: D AH1 B AH0 L TH IH2 NG K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The holding of two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously and accepting both of them as true or correct, without acknowledging the contradiction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To engage in doublethink.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

believing two contradictory ideas at the same time

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: believing

History

Etymology

From double + think. Coined by George Orwell in 1949 as part of the Newspeak in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 雙想 /双想 (shuāngxiǎng) — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Chinese Mandarin: 雙重思想 /双重思想 (shuāngchóng sīxiǎng) — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Chinese Mandarin: 双重思想 (shuāngchóng sīxiǎng) — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Czech: dvojité myšlení — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Dutch: dubbeldenk — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Esperanto: duoblapenso — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • French: doublepensée — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Georgian: ორაზრი (orazri) — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • German: Doppeldenk — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Hebrew: דּוּ חוֹשֵׁב (du ḥoshév) — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Hungarian: duplagondol — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Hungarian: kettős/kétlaki gondolkodás/gondolkozás — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Italian: bispensiero — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Italian: bipensiero — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Japanese: 二重思考 — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Northern Kurdish: duramanî — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Northern Kurdish: dufikrî — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Lithuanian: dvejamintė — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Polish: dwójmyślenie — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Portuguese: duplipensar — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Portuguese: duplopensar — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Russian: двоемы́слие (dvojemýslije) — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Serbo-Croatian: dvomisao — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Spanish: doblepensar — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs
  • Swedish: dubbeltänk — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs