Orwellian

adjective

Or·​well·​ian ȯr-ˈwe-lē-ən 

: of, relating to, or suggestive of George Orwell or his writings

especially : relating to or suggestive of the dystopian reality depicted in the novel 1984

Privacy advocates … warn that advances in technology and data collection simply make an Orwellian slippery slope even more slippery.

—Barbara Presley Noble

Some critics view knowledge engineering as a threat, as the vanguard of an Orwellian future in which thinking machines take control.

—Robert Reinhold

The X-Files and its spooky televised brethren dwell in that political twilight zone where left and right meet and greet—an Orwellian, Kafka-esque alien nation that's populated with suspicious folks who have too much time on their hands and a deep sense that something is horribly, horribly wrong.

—David Wild

Now despised and feared, the Army has become a virtual occupation force in its own country, compounding what was already an Orwellian nightmare of spies, doublespeak propaganda, curfews, and petty state control of daily life.

—Clayton Jones

Orwellianism

ȯr-ˈwe-lē-ə-ˌni-zəm 

-ˈwel-yə-ˌni-zəm

noun

Orwellianism isn't just about big government; it's about authoritarianism coupled with lies.

—Gordon Bowker

Examples of Orwellian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In recent years, a number of Western democracies have been roiled by controversies in which spyware has been used, apparently by defense and intelligence agencies, to target opposition politicians, journalists, and apolitical civilians caught up in Orwellian surveillance dragnets. —Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2024

In 1984, Apple released a TV ad suggesting that its new Macintosh would topple Orwellian totalitarianism. —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024

Of course, that beauty transformation is driven by something Orwellian, rather than the betterment of society. —Tomris Laffly, Variety, 12 Sep. 2024

At times, the 2025 Project sounds downright Orwellian: The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. —Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, 29 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

Orwellian

adjective

Or·​well·​ian

ȯr-ˈwel-ē-ən

: of, relating to, or suggestive of George Orwell or his writings

especially : relating to or suggestive of the dystopian reality depicted in the novel 1984