Dictionary

indoctrinate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From in- + doctrine + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French endoctriner.

Meanings

1. To teach (a person) with a biased, one-sided or uncritical ideology; to brainwash.
2. To teach and instill (something, to a person) in a biased, one-sided way.
   • [...] it was beyond their hope to indoctrinate Marxism-Leninism-Mao's "thought" into the mind of young generation. The young generation does not care about Communism. 1987, Asian Outlook:
   • She […] felt uncomfortable that she was to her mind 'pushing Christian values'. Apparently lurking beneath her discomfort was a sense that she was required to indoctrinate Christian values in a search for conformity rather than teaching to promote autonomy, which she regarded as her professional commitment. 2017 November 13, Ros Stuart-Buttle, John Shortt, Christian Faith, Formation and Education, Springer, →ISBN, page 119:
   • Further still, there were other little boys and girls whose parents DID know about the history [of the show promoting racism] who may have surely taken the time to infuse and indoctrinate it into the next generation. 2024 November 29, Reggie Legend, On My Post: Recollections of a Social Media Maverick: VOLUME II, Reggie Kee d.b.a. Reggie Legend, →ISBN, page 98:
   • [They] attempt to further indoctrinate Christian values into local communities by first distorting the substance of the traditional rituals and then imputing another set of values to them. 2002, Asian Anthropology:
3. (obsolete) To teach; to instruct.

Forms

Deriveds

misindoctrinate · unindoctrinate · indoctrinee · reindoctrinate · indoctrination · counterindoctrinate · unindoctrinated · indoctrinatee · indoctrinator · indoctrinable · indoctrinatory

Relateds

doctor · docile · doctrine · docent · doctrinaire · doctorate · document · doctrinal

Translations (24)

pl indoktrynować (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · cmn 洗腦 /洗脑 (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · la indoctrino (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · gl adoutrinar (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · sv indoktrinera (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · es adoctrinar (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · nl indoctrineren (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · it addottrinare (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · fi indoktrinoida (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · pt doutrinar (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · de indoktrinieren (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · pt endoutrinar (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · cy egwyddori (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · ro îndoctrina (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · cmn 向……灌輸 /向……灌输 (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · fr endoctriner (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · da indoktrinere (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · es doctrinar (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · la addoctrino (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · es indoctrinar (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · cs indoktrinovat (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · fi aivopestä (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · el δογματίζω (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology) · ca adoctrinar (teach with a biased or one-sided ideology)