drank the Kool-Aid
Swallowed the propaganda
To drink the Kool-Aid is to adopt a belief or follow a leader with uncritical enthusiasm, often despite warning signs.
The phrase alludes to the 1978 Jonestown massacre, where cult members died drinking poisoned punch.
It typically carries negative connotations—suggesting blind loyalty or willful self-deception: He really drank the Kool-Aid on that company's mission statement.
Sometimes used self-deprecatingly: I've totally drunk the Kool-Aid on this diet.
- JonestownInfamous cult settlement
- fanaticismObsessive, unreasoning dedication
- Jim JonesCult leader, mass murderer
- zealotryExcessive devotion to beliefs
- jumping on the bandwagonAdopting something because others have
warning signs · lost cause · cults · cult of personality · peer pressure · group think · mass suicide · hive mind · true believer · true believers · bought in · all in · dogmatism · echo chamber · manipulation · indoctrination · Guyana · propaganda
drank the Kool-Aidbroke ranks
left the fold · deprogrammed · kept one's own counsel · dissented · defected
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