WORD OF THE DAY
Words that appear at first glance to mean one thing but actually hide (or even reverse) their true meaning are known as doublespeak. When a company "downsizes," that actually means a lot of people are losing their jobs.
Instead of a blunt, straightforward word or phrase, doublespeak uses euphemisms and ambiguity to disguise or soften a message. Military leaders might refer to "servicing the target" when they mean dropping bombs, and a used car salesman most likely prefers describing older vehicles as "pre-owned." The word doublespeak comes from the George Orwell novel 1984 and is a cross between Orwell's terms doublethink and Newspeak.
Want to expand your vocabulary?
Get Word of the Day delivered straight to your inbox!
Vocabulary lists containing doublespeak
This list includes expressions related to food and much more.
This list includes expressions related to food and much more.
A seventeen-year-old girl must use all the skills she has learned as the daughter of a con artist in order to survive being held hostage by two men trying to rob the bank of a small town in California.
In this award-winning book, civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander argues that the American criminal justice system unfairly targets and penalizes African Americans, resulting in long-term harm to black communities.
After hearing a story about women in her Scottish village being tried as witches during the 16th century, eleven-year-old Addie starts to draw parallels between history and her own present-day experiences of being bullied for autism.
