In George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, everyone lives in a state of fear and oppression. The government manipulates language to control people's thoughts and their sense of reality, and they refer to their own ugly invented words and phrases as Newspeak. 

Here's the main character, Winston, freaking out as he realizes how messed up things are:

If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, IT NEVER HAPPENED—that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death?

The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’ And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. ‘Reality control’, they called it: in Newspeak, ‘doublethink’.

So there we have it: in Newspeak, instead of calling something what it is ("reality control"), we call it what the government wants us to think it is ("doublethink"). Newspeak is full of deceptive and clumsy-sounding words like that: doublethink, doubleplusgood, goodthinkful, unperson.

Later in the story, a dictionary writer gleefully points out another evil of Newspeak:

'You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We’re destroying words—scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We're cutting the language down to the bone.'

Does that give you the shivers? It does to me.

So, if you want to talk about manipulative, oppressive, awkward language, the kind that warps people's grasp of reality, call it newspeak. (We've mostly stopped capitalizing it. In fact, it's always been lowercase. Just kidding.)

Part of speech:

Noun, the uncountable kind: "The ad is nothing but tech-bro newspeak."

Other forms: 

You could capitalize it, if you like. It's capitalized in Orwell's novel. But pretty much everyone these days uses a lowercase.

how to use it:

When you need to sound formal, literary, and disdainful, pick the rare word "newspeak" to label some hideously manipulative word, phrase, or comment.

It's a much more critical synonym of "jargon" and "euphemism." While jargon excludes outsiders from understanding what's said, and while euphemisms make things sound nicer than they truly are, newspeak is even worse: it lies to people.

You might complain about the newspeak in a particular newspaper or on a particular channel, or you might complain about the newspeak of a certain group of people.

Or, you might point out that some ugly new word or phrase is "newspeak for" what it really means. Here's the Times: "'rootless cosmopolitans'—newspeak for Jews." And here's the Seattle Times: "'Infrastructure' is Trumpian newspeak for 'giveaway to the private sector.'"

examples:

"The term 'big government,' a choice example of newspeak American-style, involves putting forward a false distinction to conceal the true one. The campaign against 'big government' does not reflect a disagreement over the proper size and reach of government, as the issue is always framed, but a more basic one over whose interest government exists to serve, those at the top or the population as a whole."
— Doug Neiss, Salon, 28 March 2021

"[Audi wants to convert one's driving time into] productive time for work, quality time with one's family and friends, and down time that's defined by watching a movie or playing some game. Each of those becomes a new or improved possibility for the driver — or, in the newspeak of self-driving cars, captain — of an autonomous vehicle." 
— Vlad Savov, The Verge, 10 July 2017

has this page helped you understand "newspeak"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "Newspeak" without saying "ambiguous language" or "manipulative language."

try it out:

In Salon, Chauncey DeVega argued:

"Fox News' slogans and catch-phrases such as 'Fair & Balanced', 'Real News. Real Honest Opinion', and 'We Report. You Decide' are Orwellian newspeak; Fox News is doing exactly the opposite. Ultimately, Fox News is not really in the news and truth business but in the entertainment and money and power and propaganda business." 

Talk about what he means: why does he label those slogans newspeak?

And, if you've observed Fox News yourself, talk about why you agree or disagree with his argument.

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "It Sounds Wiser in Latin."

Longtime readers will recognize this game. It's back, with fresh new (okay, mostly ancient) Latin idioms!

Try matching a handful of Latin phrases to their English translations. If you need some clues, I'll provide them in the form of definitions of related English words. For example, the clue "Something anguine reminds you of a snake" could help you determine that "Latet anguis in herba" means "A snake hides in the grass."

You can see the answers by scrolling to the bottom of the issue. 

Try these today:

1. Ancipiti plus ferit ense gula.
2. Auctoritas non veritas facit legem.
3. Cave ab homine unius libri.
4. Citius venit malum quam revertitur.
5. Nulla avaritia sine poena es. 

A. Authority, not truth, makes law.
B. Fear the man of one book.
C. Gluttony kills more than the sword.
D. Misfortune arrives faster than it leaves.
E. No act of greed is without penalty.

To peek at the clues, follow the links:

   1. Verisimilitude is something that...
   2. The Latin word sine, and its French and English cousin "sans," both mean...
   3. "Malice" comes from a Latin word that means...

review this word:

1. If you wanted to invent a precise opposite of NEWSPEAK, it could be OLDSPEAK, meaning

A. "language that's clear, direct, logical, and truthful."
B. "language that's so ancient that it's impossible to understand."
C. "language that's hip, slangy, and retro, popularized by detective novels and black-and-white movies."

2. When Marjorie Taylor Greene called for a "national divorce" for the United States, a writer for Salon called the phrase "newspeak _____."

A. and dramatic
B. for a second Civil War
C. of the most insightful caliber

Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B 1. Ancipiti plus ferit ense gula. = Misfortune arrives faster than it leaves. 2. Auctoritas non veritas facit legem. =  Authority, not truth, makes law. 3. Cave ab homine unius libri. = Fear the man of one book. 4. Citius venit malum quam revertitur. = Gluttony kills more than the sword. 5. Nulla avaritia sine poena es. = No act of greed is without penalty.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.