Kool-aid

name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

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

    "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."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of Kool-Aid (unquestioned fad or ideology). alt-of, alternative

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

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A sweet, non-carbonated drink made with artificial flavors. US

Example

More examples

"We're all "drinking the Kool-Aid" here."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

Back-formation from drink the Kool-Aid.

Related phrases

Kool-Aid smileRocky Mountain Kool-Aiddrink one's own Kool-Aiddrink the Kool-Aid

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.