The modern definition of gaslighting is a psychological manipulation technique in which a person tries to convince someone that their reality is untrue. It is a tactic often used by narcissists to gain control of their intended target.
I found that on Google, after looking up the word in my desk dictionary, The Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary 1992 edition, which has no listing for the word at all. I concluded the Google definition is a recent interpretation of the word.
I looked it up because it's a word that's been frequently used over a few years now in interviews and discussion, often of a political nature, usually I think in the context of someone being harmed or betrayed in some way, but I never really knew how that was. I haven't heard it for a while, but now that I've learned the modern meaning of it, I suppose it'll mean the gaslighter is possibly a narcissist trying to manipulate the gaslit person's beliefs as a means to dominate them.
I confess that's still a bit difficult for me. I prefer by far my previous accepted version of the word, which coincides with the old dictionary I have, Websters Modern 20th century 1947 edition. It's a huge book that came from my grandmother Nanna Wilson originally to the farm when she came to live there in 1973, and somehow now sits in our "library". The pages are yellowed and the writing so small I could hardly read it.
It states Gaslighting - "The light produced by the combustion of coal gas."
