thoughtcrime
/ˈθɔːtkrʌɪm
/noun
An instance of unorthodox or controversial thinking, considered as a criminal offence or as socially unacceptable: thoughtcrimes are notoriously difficult to prosecute...
- In this state Christian clergymen are threatened with jail for thoughtcrimes while vicious child molesters are released from prison to take up residence near schools and playgrounds.
- But his pleas were ignored, and two months later he was brought before Lysenko and an unnamed ally to answer for his thoughtcrime.
- I'm perturbed at the subtextual agenda in this piece, which seeks to define thoughtcrime and convict the ex-leader of it, because after you remove the man the definition stands, and fits people like us quite neatly.
Origin
1949: from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.