psychological warfare

Definitions

1. A mentally manipulative approach to warfare involving use of techniques to demoralize or intimidate someone into surrender.
   idiomatic, uncountable
2. Mind games.
   broadly, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“Li also inspected a psychological warfare unit at Huchingtou, Liehyu, where he saw⟳ off a balloon carrying materials showing the free bastion of Taiwan's warm support⟳ for the pro-democracy movement on the China mainland.”

“The intelligence services believe⟳ it is more likely the Chinese would use⟳ psychological warfare to give⟳ the impression they were about to seize one of the islands, rather than carry⟳ it out. However, if there was pressure within the Chinese military to achieve⟳ at least a token military success against Taiwan, this option could not be dismissed.”

“Bill Tilden invented tennis as we now know⟳ it. He changed it from the gentlemanly pastime of the 1920s into a professional sport involving stars, strategies and large amounts of money, from a dull and predictable game into a tactical enterprise involving strategy and psychological warfare, net shots, scoops and lobs, all calculated to throw⟳ opponents off balance.”

CEFR level