Orwellian

Orwellian describes a situation, idea, or condition that George Orwell identified as being inimical to the welfare of a free-society. Often, this includes the situations depicted in his fictional novels, particularly his political novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

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The term "Orwellian" usually refers to one or more of the following:

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• Manipulation of language for political ends. Most significantly by introducing to words meanings in opposition to their denotative meanings.
• Invasion by the state of personal privacy, whether physically or by means of surveillance.
• The total control of daily life by the state, as in a "Big Brother" society.
• The disintegration of the family unit by the state.
• The replacement of religious faith with worship of the state in a semi-religious manner.
• Active encouragement by the state of "doublethink", whereby the population must learn to embrace inconsistent concepts without dissent.
• A dystopian or antiutopian future.
• The use of verbose and ambiguous language.

George Orwell: Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was a British author. Noted as a political and cultural commentator, as well as an accomplished novelist, Orwell is among the most widely admired English-language essayists of the twentieth century....

Nineteen Eighty-Four: Nineteen Eighty-Four (often 1984) is a political novel written by George Orwell. The story takes place in a nightmarish dystopia where the omnipresent State enforces perfect conformity among members of a totalitarian Party through indoctrination, propaganda, fear, and ruthless punishment. The novel ...