What Does Gaslighting Mean?
Manipulating someone into questioning their own reality or sanity.
Meaning of Gaslighting
"Gaslighting" is a form of psychological manipulation where someone makes another person question their own reality, memory, or perception. The gaslighter denies events, twists facts, or dismisses the other person's feelings to gain power and control. While it's a serious psychological term, it's also used more casually online to describe any situation where someone denies something obvious or tries to make others doubt themselves.
Origin & History
The term comes from the 1944 film "Gaslight" (and the 1938 play it was based on), where a husband manipulates his wife into thinking she's going insane by dimming gas lights and denying it's happening. The psychological term has been used since the 1960s, but it entered mainstream internet vocabulary around 2018-2020.
Usage Examples
- “He told me the argument never happened — classic gaslighting.”
- “Stop gaslighting me, I know what I saw.”
- “That's not gaslighting, that's just disagreeing.”
- “She gaslighted me into thinking I was the problem in the relationship.”
- “Politicians gaslight the public by denying things that are on video.”