psy-warn.
/ˈsʌɪˌwɔː/, U.S. /ˈsaɪˌwɔr/ Originally U.S. Military.
= psychological warfare n. at psychological adj. and n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > types of war > [noun] > psychological warfare
psychological war1918
psychological warfare1939
war of nerves1939
nerve war1941
psychological operations1951
psy-war1951
psy-op1965
1951 Washington Post 8 July ii. 3/2 Air Force officers say its chief aim is to induce qualified civilians to volunteer for ‘Psy-war’ duty.
1971 Times Lit. Suppl. 7 May 519/1 In one sense, ‘psywar’ is not the same as propaganda—is its opposite even: while propaganda aims to influence belief, psywar influences action, and above all persuades those it is directed at into inaction.
1987 N. Spinrad Little Heroes (1989) 11 They employed platoons of shrinks and unemployed former Pentagon psy-war spooks to think up best-selling scenarios.
1999 Newsweek 29 Nov. 48/3 Now W's campaign manager is Karl Rove, an operative who began his career in politics side by side with Atwater and has mastered the psy-war tactics of messing with the enemy's mind.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1951