Meanings
- excessivefigurativelyA transparently absurd claim, often accepted as a result of a tyrannical government or mass delusion.
Consequently, if it be claimed that, under the French constitution, 200,000 individuals, out of 26 million citizens, constitute two-thirds of the common will, only one comment is possible: It is a claim that two and two make five.
1789, Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (tr.), What Is the Third Estate?2 more examples
In the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. […] For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable—what then?
1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-FourI recognize that a lot of things are gray. They are nuanced, and there are tradeoffs. But there are also things which are black and white. Two plus two does equal four. But if you can convince people that two plus two equals five, you can make them believe absurdities.
2022 August 12, Jan Jekielek, Jeff Minick, “The Erosion of Truth”, in The Epoch Times
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseA transparently absurd claim, often accepted as a result of a tyrannical government or mass delusion.
Origin
Popularized by George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, referencing a scene in which the protagonist Winston Smith wonders if the authoritarian Inner Party would declare that "two plus two equals five". However, figurative use dates back to the 18th century.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
two plus two equals five. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two%20plus%20two%20equals%20five
“two plus two equals five.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two%20plus%20two%20equals%20five. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “two plus two equals five,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two%20plus%20two%20equals%20five.
Source: two plus two equals five on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.