different between mindscrew vs mindfuck

English

Etymology

mind +? screw (“to play with; to meddle”)

Pronunciation

Noun

mindscrew (plural mindscrews)

1. (slang) Something that destabilizes, confuses, or manipulates a person's mind.
   • 2009, Jay A. Fernandez, "Abrams making a name for himself, but it's not Steven Spielberg just yet", The Hollywood Reporter, 12 May 2009:

     It's in television that Abrams, arguably more than Spielberg, has nudged the medium forward, with "Felicity," then "Alias" and finally the mindscrew of "Lost."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:mindscrew.

Synonyms

• brainfuck (vulgar), headfuck (vulgar), mindfuck (vulgar)

Verb

mindscrew (third-person singular simple present mindscrews, present participle mindscrewing, simple past and past participle mindscrewed)

1. To destabilize, confuse, or manipulate a person's mind.
   • 1997, Howard Swindle, Trespasses: Portraits of a Serial Rapist, Penguin (1997), ?ISBN:

     About half the detectives thought his return to the old neighborhood was proof positive that he was out of control; still others believed he had ice water running through his veins, maybe even mindscrewing the cops by rubbing their noses in the fact they couldn't stop him even though they suspected who he was

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:mindscrew.

English

Alternative forms

• mind-fuck, mind fuck

Etymology

Compound of mind +? fuck.

Pronunciation

• (US, UK) IPA^(key): /ma?nd.f?k/

Noun

mindfuck (plural mindfucks)

1. (slang, vulgar) Something that intentionally destabilizes, confuses or manipulates the mind of another person.

   Synonyms: (vulgar) brainfuck, (vulgar) headfuck, mindscrew

   • 1968 Student Union for Peace Action, Our Generation, p. 66:

     The actual naked fact of Establishment power in the person of the police was a real mindfuck.

   • 1996, Christopher Kyle, the monogamist, p. 53:

     This is a total mindfuck. I guess you know we broke up.

   • 2001, Mick Farren, Darklost, p. 311:

     It's a mindfuck. It's just lasers and shit, like the haunted house in Disneyland.

   • 2006, Ska Child, David Harris, Skavoovee, p. 106:

     The first four weeks of basic training were designed to be a total mindfuck. It started from the moment they stepped off the bus and were punished for not knowing how to stand at attention, even though they'd never been taught.

Derived terms

• mindfucker
• mindfuckery

Translations

Verb

mindfuck (third-person singular simple present mindfucks, present participle mindfucking, simple past and past participle mindfucked)

1. (slang, vulgar) To intentionally destabilize, confuse or manipulate the mind of another person.
   • 1974, Connie Brissenden, The Factory Lab Anthology, p. 10:

     Two young Canadians get mindfucked by a giant American, but they kill him in the end and then start in on each other.

   • 2003, Adam Gorightly et al., The Prankster and the Conspiracy, p. 136:

     In response to all of this Bavarian Illuminati paranoia, Kerry—in the midst of Garrison's probe — decided to mindfuck Garrison all the more by sending out suggesting that he (Kerry) was an agent of the Bavarian Illuminati.

   • 2007, Jackie Kessler, The Road to Hell, p. 67:

     I hated it when other entities mindfucked me.

Translations