mind-bendingadj.
/ˈmʌɪn(d)ˌbɛndɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmaɪn(d)ˌbɛndɪŋ/ 1. That stretches one's mental faculties to the limit; bewildering, puzzling, perplexing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [adjective] > causing hallucinations
mind-expanding1855
delirifacient1883
hallucinogenic1952
mind-bending1952
the mind > mental capacity > belief > suggestion, proposal > [adjective] > in extreme way
mind-bending1952
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > [adjective]
riddling1598
uncome-at-able1694
unaccountable1711
mind-bending1952
1946 A. Kober That Man is here Again 5 The poor guy's knockin' hisself out with a problem he's got bendin' his mind.]
1952 Jrnl. Hist. Ideas 13 397 How skilful we are, how well-equipped to destroy ambiguities, to dissolve difficulties, to unravel what is involved, by mind-bending syllogisms to weaken the false and confirm the true.
1965 Economist 25 Sept. 1215/3 The Socialist Labour League, furious exegetes of the gospel according to Trotsky, with their mind-bending vocabulary full of ‘Pabloism’ and that mythical entity the ‘rank-and-file’.
1970 Sunday Times 25 Jan. 29 The theoretical mathematics of the situation [sc. the mining of metals] are positively mind-bending.
1987 R. Curtis & B. Elton Blackadder the Third in R. Curtis et al. Blackadder: Whole Damn Dynasty (1998) 276/2 And nothing I can say about the mind-bending horrors of the Revolution will put you off?
1990 CU Amiga Apr. 36/4 This is an excellent game..for everybody who fancies a few weeks of mind-bending puzzles.
1999 N.Y. Mag. 11 Jan. 85/1 Joined by free-jazzers John Voigt and Laurence Cook, Moore takes it outside with some mind-bending improvisation.
2. That influences, alters, or profoundly affects one's mood or way of thinking; brainwashing. Also: spec. = psychedelic adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > effects of drugs > [adjective] > affected by hallucinogenic drugs > relating to effect of
freaky1966
mind-bending1966
trippy1969
the world > matter > gas > [adjective] > of the nature of fumes or vapour > of or relating to or of nature of noxious vapour > altering the mind
mind-bending1966
1966 New Scientist 21 Apr. 151/1 Already ‘mind-bending’ gases for military purposes are said to be at an advanced stage of development.
1971 New Scientist 27 May 531/1 Heroin and other mind-bending agents.
1983 U.S. News & World Rep. 4 Apr. 43 The 75 organizations branded by angry parents' groups as ‘mind-bending youth cults’.
1996 A. Ghosh Calcutta Chromosome (1997) xxxvii. 247 Other kinds of malaria have weird neural effects too. A lot of people who've had malaria know that: it can be more hallucinogenic than any mind-bending drug.
Derivatives
ˈmind-ˌbendingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > [adverb]
riddle-wise1563
riddlingly1608
mind-bendingly1982
1982 Listener 23 Dec. 60/4 Since programming is one of the most fascinating types of puzzle-solving known to man, such a system was mind-bendingly frustrating.
1998 Warwick Boar (Univ. Warwick Students' Union) 20 Jan. 8/1 Everyone else got slowly wrecked on mind-bendingly strong ‘cocktails’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1952