1984

From the title of George Orwell’s 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Compare Orwellian.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌnaɪn.tiːnˌeɪ.tiˈfɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌnaɪn.tinˌeɪ.tiˈfɔɹ/

• Audio (General American):

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• Audio (General American); “literally 1984”:

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1984

1. (sometimes attributive) A totalitarian or dystopic society, especially when characterised by intense surveillance of its citizens. [from 20th c.]
   • 1954 June 28, Time:

     Many a thoughtful man, musing over his second Martini and the evening paper, has had the uneasy feeling that 1984 was much closer.

   • 2007 January 15, Johann Hari, “Johann Hari: When the Government acts, why do we always assume there is something to fear?”, in The Independent‎^[1], archived from the original on 8 July 2022:

     Yet these proposals are already being presented by the Conservatives - and many on the left - as yet another step into 1984, part of a proto-tyrannical package ranging from CCTV cameras to Asbos to the DNA database that they cite as evidence Britain is sleepwalking into a surveillance society.

   • 2010, Peter Dale Scott, quoted in David Ray Griffin, Cognitive Infiltration:

     Those who seek to prevent 2010 from becoming 1984 will want to arm themselves with this valuable book.