Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

drink the kool-aid

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English

Syllables: drink the kool-aid
IPA

28

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

2

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To come under the influence of a leader, organization, or movement to the point of believing uncritically in an espoused idea or ideology.

American usage; Colloquial

Example Sentences

"Outside the Convention Center, meanwhile, protesters on either side of police barricades waved signs, chanted, sang songs and heckled people walking inside to attend the fundraiser. Signs included "Limp Wrists Make Strong Fists," "I'd Rather Be Dead Than Born Again" and "Abort the Moral Majority." One of the more original chants was "Don't drink the Kool-Aid!""
"Netscape, while willing to drink the open source Kool Aid, realized there were other important issues in the commercial sector."
"[…] essentially three options to choose from when you're confronted with the liberal hooey. The options are: 1. You can drink the campus Kool Aid […]"
"They "drink the Kool-Aid", as Lampley terms it, meaning that they buy into the Olympic experience."
""Then we better not drink the Kool-Aid. Have you been drinking the Kool-Aid, Robert?""

Etymology

Referring to the Peoples Temple cult movement, whose members committed mass murder–suicide in 1978 by drinking a powdered drink mix (popularly believed to be Kool-Aid, but in fact Flavor Aid) laced with cyanide poison.

Usage

American usage
Colloquial

Inflected Forms

drinks the Kool-Aid (present, singular) drinking the Kool-Aid (participle, present) drank the Kool-Aid (past) drunk the Kool-Aid (participle, past) drink the Kool Aid (alternative)

Phrases

take the red pill

Frequently Paired Words

brainwash Jonestown take the red pill

Questions

What does drink the kool-aid mean?: To come under the influence of a leader, organization, or movement to the point of believing uncritically in an espoused idea or ideology.
Where does drink the kool-aid come from?: Referring to the Peoples Temple cult movement, whose members committed mass murder–suicide in 1978 by drinking a powdered drink mix (popularly believed to be Kool-Aid, but in fact Flavor Aid) laced with cyanide poison.

How to pronounce drink the kool-aid

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