Word of the day · 4 June 2026
gaslighting
/ˈɡæslaɪtɪŋ/
noun
A pattern of psychological manipulation that makes someone doubt their memory, perception or judgment.
In a sentence
- She recognized the gaslighting when he insisted the email she still had open had never existed.
- Friends warned that constant denial of shared events can become gaslighting.
- The memoir describes years of gaslighting that left her unsure of her own notes.
In an image
Origin
From the 1938 play Gas Light (later filmed as Gaslight), in which a husband dims the lights and denies the change to unsettle his wife.
History
The stage plot gave English a vivid label for a specific abuse tactic: deny what the other person can see. Therapists and journalists revived gaslighting in the 2010s as a public word for that pattern, not only for one famous story. Careful use still points to repeated denial and confusion, not to ordinary disagreement. People search it when a fight feels like an argument over what happened, not only over what it meant.
Nearby words
manipulation · denial · coercion
The word people reach for when reality itself feels under dispute.