to inoculate
2
7.4
- verb
- /ɪˈnɑkjʊˌleɪt/
- Specialized
:
inmunizar contra
- Einstein wrote: "We must begin to inoculate our children against militarism by educating them in the spirit of pacifism."
But but I think that the experience with the COVID deniers inoculated me to some degree right there.
- But but I think that the experience with the COVID deniers inoculated me to some degree right there.
- I'm saying this is a time more than ever that you want to begin to inoculate yourself with positive words.
- But if you haven't healed, you haven't built mental toughness, you haven't inoculated yourself to adversity and hardship.
- And if so, how can people inoculate themselves against that?
- Now the schools in a lot of states, I don't know how you can inoculate your child against being taught lies and being socially indoctrinated by school.
- So we allow our clients to fish themselves so it inoculates them.
Examples
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And he has this beautiful quote where he says, interestingly, sometimes we procrastinate to ensure that we inoculate ourselves from public failure.
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Or maybe it´s to inoculate people against some kind of a dreaded biological attack.
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And if so, how can people inoculate themselves against that?
-
I'm saying this is a time more than ever that you want to begin to inoculate yourself with positive words.
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Because just knowing them doesn't automatically inoculate you to these bad ways of thinking.
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But but I think that the experience with the COVID deniers inoculated me to some degree right there.
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These factors are amazingly powerful in inoculating children against stress.
Academic text (2006) -
And in other words, learning about focused and diffuse helps inoculate you against thinking you're stupid when you're trying to learn.
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Yet readers (and reporters) may be inoculated against such responses by repeated exposure.
Academic text (1997) -
To prepare students for diverse opinions, teachers often inoculate them with critical thinking skills.
Synonyms
108
6.4
To put an idea or feeling into someone's mind so it stays there
80
3.9
To make an idea or habit become fixed in someone's mind
71
4.8
To gradually make someone feel, believe, or value something
37
4.6
Fill someone or something with a feeling like confidence
31
8.1
To teach people to accept beliefs without question, often to change how they think
31
6.1
To make a habit or idea a strong lasting part of someone's life
16
5.7
Put a strong idea or belief into someone's mind
9
8.1
Teach someone a belief or habit by repeating it often
3
6.8
Protect a person from harm, often by giving a vaccine or preparing them to resist bad ideas
To make people think or act a certain way beforehand
Phrasal Verbs
3
6.8
Protect a person from harm, often by giving a vaccine or preparing them to resist bad ideas
How Strong
- Specialized
2
7.4
- Informal
4
3.4
220
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
inoculate = in + ocul + ate
The metaphorical sense ('introduce an idea') is understandable once the communicative/medical sense is known, but the underlying combining form 'ocul' is not a familiar English base, so it's only partly transparent.
Etymology
Inoculate comes from Latin parts in- 'in' and oculus 'eye', from the old idea of putting a small 'eye' into something so it will grow there. A helpful way to remember the modern use is this: to inoculate a person with an idea is to put a small seed of thought into their mind so they are prepared or made resistant to other ideas.