Psychology
What does Gaslighting mean?
Making someone doubt their own perception, on purpose, until the inner floor gives way.
Definition
Gaslighting comes from the play and film Gas Light: the husband tampers with the light and denies it. Today the word covers a pattern — denying what happened, reversing blame, isolating witnesses. The internet sometimes calls any disagreement gaslighting. The lexicon asks for intent and repetition, not a one-off fight about who left the dishes. Distorting the other's reality is the core.
Origin
English, from the play Gas Light (1938) and the films that followed.
History
From 1980s–2000s therapy vocabulary to mass use on Twitter.
How it emerged
The metaphor of a light that changes with no witness became the name of the pattern.
Usage examples
That is not a different opinion, it is gaslighting.
You're crazy as a refrain is a signal.
Translations
- pt gaslighting
- en gaslighting
- es gaslighting
Synonyms
- perception distortion
- denying the evidenced
- moving the light
Related terms
Questions
What is gaslighting?
A pattern of making a person doubt what they perceived, on purpose.
Is every lie gaslighting?
No. The term asks for an attack on the victim's trust in their own mind, repeated.
Origin?
The play and films Gas Light, in which the house lights are manipulated.