mutual assured destruction

English

Alternative forms

• mutually assured destruction

Etymology

A pun on "assured destruction" ("a highly reliable ability to inflict unacceptable damage ... even after absorbing a surprise first strike"), a term used in discussions of American nuclear strategy in the 1960s. Perhaps coined by Donald Brennan, conservative defense analyst and a public critic of the policy.

Noun

mutual assured destruction (uncountable)

1. (politics, public policy, military) The threat of massive retaliation using nuclear weapons should a potential enemy use them first, both sides being annihilated in the event of war.

Usage notes

• In the 1980s, mutual assured destruction was 2–3× more popular. As of 2025, mutually assured destruction is 2–4× more popular.[2][3]

Synonyms

• MAD

Derived terms

• assured destruction

Translations

threat

• Arabic: دمار متبادل
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 相互保證毀滅 / 相互保证毁灭 (zh) (xiānghù bǎozhèng huǐmiè)

• Dutch: gegarandeerde wederzijdse vernietiging f
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: molemminpuolinen varmistettu tuho
• French: destruction mutuelle assurée f
• German: Gleichgewicht des Schreckens (de) n
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: 相互確証破壊 (そうごかくしょうはかい, sōgo kakushō hakai)
• Korean: 상호확증파괴(相互確證破壞) (sanghohwakjeungpagoe), 상호확실파괴(相互確實破壞) (sanghohwaksilpagoe)
• Persian: نابودی قطعی متقابل (nâbudi-ye qat'i-ye motaqâbel)
• Polish: wzajemne zagwarantowane zniszczenie n
• Romanian: distrugere reciprocă asigurată f
• Russian: взаимное гарантированное уничтожение (vzaimnoje garantirovannoje uničtoženije)
• Spanish: destrucción mutua / mutual / recíproca asegurada f
• Turkish: karşılıklı kesin yıkım
• Urdu: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: đảm bảo phá huỷ lẫn nhau

See also

• eye for an eye
• internecine
• Kilkenny cat