doublethink
noun, verb
doublethink is spelled D-O-U-B-L-E-T-H-I-N-K: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 125,655th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, doublethink means “The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously and accepting both of them as true or correct; an instance of doing so” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of doublethink is doublethinks.
How many letters and syllables are in doublethink?
| Letters | 11: D-O-U-B-L-E-T-H-I-N-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 125,655th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is doublethink?
Doublethink appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 125,655th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce doublethink?
Doublethink has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of doublethink
- doublethinks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- doublethinking participle, present
- doublethought participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does doublethink mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously and accepting both of them as true or correct; an instance of doing so.
verb
- 1
To engage in doublethink.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Doublethink in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the holding of two contradictory beliefs:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | doublepensée |
| German | Doppeldenk |
| Portuguese | duplipensar, duplopensar |
| Spanish | doblepensar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does doublethink come from?
From double + think. Coined by George Orwell in 1949 as part of the Newspeak in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).