countersignal

English

Etymology

From counter- +‎ signal.

Noun

countersignal (plural countersignals)

  1. A signal produced in response to another signal.

Verb

countersignal (third-person singular simple present countersignals, present participle (US) countersignaling or (UK) countersignalling, simple past and past participle (US) countersignaled or (UK) countersignalled)

  1. (intransitive, sociology)
    1. To send a false or misleading signal.
    2. To send a contrasting signal.
      • 2012, New York Magazine's Most Popular:
        But of course, Silicon Valley is a mecca of counter-signaling—witness the superstatus Zuckerbergian hoodie—and it's no surprise to discover that in the land of the billionaire dropout, an Internet entrepreneur like Thiel sees evidence that higher education inhibits innovation.
      • 2022, W. David Marx, chapter 5, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN:
        Just as the logic of signaling attracts New Money to luxury, countersignaling directs the Old Money sensibility toward modesty.
  2. (transitive) To signal opposition to (someone or something); distance oneself from; disassociate.

Further reading

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