Word.ws English Dictionary

take the red pill

take the red pill verb: to perceive the world in its previously unknown, usually harsher, reality.

Verb

take the red pill (third-person singular simple present takes the red pill, present participle taking the red pill, simple past took the red pill, past participle taken the red pill)

  1. (idiomatic) To perceive the world in its previously unknown, usually harsher, reality.
    • If you want to be a successful bootstrapper, you have to take the red pill and determine how deep the rabbit hole called your organization goes.2004 September 9, Guy Kawasaki, The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, Portfolio, →ISBN, →OL, page 92
    • As much as we, our generation, start to believe this fictionalized new version of reality we become complicit.... The only way out is to take the Red pill and see what things really look like.2005 June 1, Terry Allen, Dugout, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 172
    Synonyms:
    face facts, wise up

Synonyms of take the red pill

Forms of take the red pill

third-person singular presenttakes the red pill
present participletaking the red pill
pasttook the red pill
past participletaken the red pill

Questions about take the red pill

What does take the red pill mean?
Take the red pill means to perceive the world in its previously unknown, usually harsher, reality.
What part of speech is take the red pill?
Take the red pill is a verb.
What is the past tense of take the red pill?
The past tense of take the red pill is took the red pill.

Words near take the red pill in the dictionary

  1. take the plunge
  2. take the point
  3. take the purple
  4. take the rap
  5. take the red eye
  6. take the red pill
  7. take the register
  8. take the reins
  9. take the ride
  10. take the roll
  11. take the rough with the smooth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take the red pill (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-take the red pill.ogg.

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