kool-aid

proper noun

A sweet, non-carbonated drink made with artificial flavors.

Meanings

kool-aid1

nounkool-aid (plural kool-aids)

plural kool-aids

  1. alternativeAlternative form of Kool-Aid (unquestioned fad or ideology).

    All of you military vets that drank that kool-aid and voted for him - shame on you.

    2009, John Crippen, The Legacy of George W Bush (A Collection of Conflicting Opinions), →ISBN
    2 more examples

    And don't believe everything you see or fall into this alluring trap. Step away from the kool-aid, don't drink, it is no good. The kool-aid looks sweet but it is bitter and poisonous. The dangers of influence does not stop at our career choices, clothing ensembles, hairstyles and religious decisions; the followers of celebrities or whomever they have chosen as their new source of life, impact every aspect of their being.

    2012, Melissa White, You Have To Know! A Book of Self-Awareness, →ISBN, pages 41–42

    For half a decade, Silicon Valley turned into nothing less than a business world version of Jonestown. The kool-aid wasn't lethal. But it was very potent, and people were drinking it by the gallon.

    2015, Scott Fearon, Jesse Powell, Dead Companies Walking, →ISBN

Kool-Aid2

proper nounKool-Aid (plural Kool-Aids)

plural Kool-Aids · alternative koolaid

  1. USA sweet, non-carbonated drink made with artificial flavors.

Kool-Aid3

nounKool-Aid (plural Kool-Aids)

plural Kool-Aids · alternative koolaid

  1. A fad or ideology that is adopted unquestioningly, ignoring its hidden dangers or disadvantages.

    Suitcases full of Kool-Aid seem to have been wheeled into Boris Johnson’s meeting with Tory MPs last night.

    2022 February 1, Marina Hyde, “Never mind wine fridges, the Tory party is drunk on Kool-Aid”, in The Guardian
    5 more examples

    The problem today isn't really with the Kool Aids; it's with society's refusal to distinguish between him and all the rest who fall into the hands of the system.

    1998, Leslie Abramson, Richard Flaste, The Defense is Ready: My Life in Crime, →ISBN

    Pfizer reps departed training with a “Pass me the Kool-Aid” conviction that not only were our drugs the best in the industry, but also that our company was the best in the world.

    2010, Jamie Reidy, Hard Sell: Now a Major Motion Picture LOVE and OTHER DRUGS, →ISBN

    Kids are force-fed the Kool-Aid while their skulls are still soft. They have no concept of rational thought and their parents drag them to a church and force them to learn mythology disguised as religious doctrine and try to sell it as fact.

    2011, Jim Cuba, Running with My Pants Down, →ISBN, page 38

    Hopefully by now you are beginning to see how the Kool-Aid is made, realized it is not poison, and are thinking about taking a sip. You are ready to rush out, buy your first bitcoin, and cash in on the digital gold rush.

    2014, Brian Kelly, The Bitcoin Big Bang: How Alternative Currencies Are About to Change, →ISBN

    Memorably referred to by Warren Buffet in early 2008 as the 'poetic justice' of 'toxic Kool-Aid' (Dabrowski 2008), the specific issue addressed by these initiatives was the value, valuation, and circulation of assets related to and derived from US sub-prime mortgages.

    2015, Paul Langley, Liquidity Lost: The Governance of the Global Financial Crisis, →ISBN, page 60

Origin

Kool-Aid · proper noun

Trademark, presumably from cool and -ade, influenced by aid.

Full word history & related roots →

Kool-Aid · noun

Back-formation from drink the Kool-Aid.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

kool-aid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kool-aid

MLA

“kool-aid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kool-aid. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kool-aid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kool-aid.

Source: kool-aid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.