open-wash

A form of openwash — To market something as open (without proprietary licensing) when it does not meet all the criteria of openness.

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Meanings

verbopen-wash (third-person singular simple present open-washes, present participle open-washing, simple past and past participle open-washed)

present singular third person open-washes · participle present open-washing · participle past open-washed · past open-washed

  1. alternativeAlternative form of openwash.

    The use of open source supports the business narrative around free software: openness is here used to open-wash free software, making it business-friendly.

    2020, Arwid Lund, Mariano Zukerfeld, “Profiting from Open Access Publishing”, in Corporate Capitalism's Use of Openness
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: open-wash on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.