Word.ws English Dictionary

Green Lantern theory

Green Lantern theory proper noun: the misconception that the president of the United States can achieve any political or policy objective by trying hard enough or using the right tactics.

Proper noun

the Green Lantern theory

  1. (US) The misconception that the president of the United States can achieve any political or policy objective by trying hard enough or using the right tactics.

Origin of Green Lantern theory

Introduced by political scientist Brendan Nyhan in 2009 https://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2009/12/the-costs-of-green-lanternism.html; named after the comic book character Green Lantern.

Questions about Green Lantern theory

What does Green Lantern theory mean?
Green Lantern theory means the misconception that the president of the United States can achieve any political or policy objective by trying hard enough or using the right tactics.
What part of speech is Green Lantern theory?
Green Lantern theory is a proper noun.

Words near Green Lantern theory in the dictionary

  1. green lacewings
  2. Green Lake
  3. Green Lake County
  4. green lane
  5. green lanes
  6. Green Lantern theory
  7. green laver
  8. green lead ore
  9. green lead ores
  10. green leaf lettuce
  11. green leaf lettuces

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Green Lantern theory (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Green Lantern theory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/green_lantern_theory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.