gaslighting

American

[gas-lahy-ting] / ˈgæsˌlaɪ tɪŋ /

noun

the use of psychological manipulation to undermine a person’s faith in their own judgment, memory, or sanity.

Gaslighting is not restricted to romantic relationships, but also occurs in friendships and among family members.
the practice of deceiving people through the repetition of a constructed false narrative.

It’s not uncommon for victims of gaslighting to argue passionately in favor of the story they’ve been fed.

Etymology

Origin of gaslighting

First recorded in 1815–25, for a literal sense; 1960–65, for the current senses; gaslight ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A separate source said: "It's like corporate gaslighting with top management saying that everything is going fine when all evidence is to the contrary. "

From BBC

Yet we may be gaslighting ourselves about the likelihood of either nation meeting its deadline for putting humans on the lunar surface—China in 2030, the U.S. in 2028.

From The Wall Street Journal

“And I don’t want to say it’s disproportionate, but to a certain degree it is. You’re constantly filtering out, is this real danger? You are kind of constantly gaslighting yourself.”

From Los Angeles Times

The child hit out at Rhodes for "gaslighting me, parading around as a survivor, while destroying me and my mother".

From BBC

West Midlands Police was, as Nick Timothy MP - who has led some of the criticism of the force - put it, "gaslighting them".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023