techlash

T1E1C3H4L1A1S1H4

noun

Backlash against technology.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nountechlash (plural techlashes)

plural techlashes · alternative tech-lash

  1. neologismBacklash against technology.

    The coming tech-lash [title]

    2013, Adrian Wooldridge, “The coming tech-lash”, in The Economist
    4 more examples

    The techlash against Amazon, Facebook and Google—and what they can do [title]

    2018 January 20, Eve Smith, “The techlash against Amazon, Facebook and Google—and what they can do”, in The Economist

    Vestager was once criticised by Barack Obama who suggested her actions were the result of Europe's tech-envy because they ‘can't compete’ with Silicon Valley. But, as the ‘tech-lash’ continued in the wake of election shocks and Facebook scandals, she has been more often cited as a role model for much bigger interventions.

    2018, Tom Baldwin, Ctrl Alt Delete: How Politics and the Media Crashed Our Democracy, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 290

    What’s offered is less class analysis than psychoanalysis. It is the psychoanalytic inflections that elevate this book above so much recent “techlash” literature.

    2019 August 8, William Davies, “The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour review – escape from dystopia”, in The Guardian

    It was July 2017, and the techlash was burgeoning; ordinary people were worried about AI coming for their jobs and unscrupulous tech companies misusing their data.

    2020, Wendy Liu, Abolish Silicon Valley

Origin

2013, blend of tech + backlash, coined by Adrian Wooldridge; popularized 2018.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

techlash. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/techlash

MLA

“techlash.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/techlash. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “techlash,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/techlash.

Source: techlash on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.