demagogue

noun dem·a·gogue \ ˈde-mə-ˌgäg \

variants: or less commonly demagog

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

1 : a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power

2 : a leader championing the cause of the common people in ancient times

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demagoguery

play \-ˌgä-g(ə-)rē\ noun

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demagogy

play \-ˌgä-gē, -ˌgä-jē, -ˌgō-jē\ noun

See demagogue defined for English-language learners

See demagogue defined for kids

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Examples of demagogue in a Sentence

Like other good Whigs, they had assumed that the people, once free of English influence, would honor and elevate the country's true patriots and natural aristocracy in ways that the English Crown had not. But when in the decades following the Revolution the people seemed to succumb to the deceit and flattery of mushroom demagogues, who were the popular counterparts of courtiers, the Federalists became bewildered and bitter. —Gordon S. Wood, Revolutionary Characters, 2006
Before the U.S. could begin to help Haiti rebuild its ravaged democracy last week, it first had to remove a raving demagogue. —Tim Padgett et al., Time, 15 Mar. 2004
Here's the background: Tennessee's finances are a mess. The state is facing a shortfall of some $310 million—but legislators remember what happened last year when they considered imposing the first income tax on wages. Goaded by talk-radio demagogues, hundreds of citizens surrounded the Statehouse in a near riot. —Editor & Publisher, 4 Feb. 2002
His opponent called him a bigoted demagogue.
that politician is just a demagogue who preys upon people's fears and prejudices

Recent Examples of demagogue from the Web

With another term now in hand, Orban has become one of the continent's most potent illiberal demagogues, bending the state to his favor and eroding the country's fledgling democratic norms.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "The pope’s challenge to Orban and Europe’s far right," 10 Apr. 2018
When the people rule, rather than demagogues and military generals, a country can enjoy freedom and prosperity.

— The Christian Science Monitor, "An election so normal it’s a benchmark," 4 Apr. 2018
In the 1930s, the populist demagogue Huey Long popularized the concept as part of his Share Our Wealth plan — a far-left alternative to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "The Radical Proposal That Moderate Democrats Should Be Running On," 22 Mar. 2018
This imbalance, depicted in the leaking of factory jobs out to China while corporate treasuries fill with money, angers people enough that a demagogue promising to bring back their jobs could get a foothold.

— david dayen, The New Republic, "Trump’s Theater of Trade," 27 Mar. 2018
As demagogues exploit the weaknesses in our system, our political norms might not recover.

— franklin foer, The Atlantic, "It’s Time to Regulate the Internet," 21 Mar. 2018
Madison repeatedly insisted that the Constitution created not a direct democracy but a representative republic and that large assemblies, such as the unchecked democracies in Greece and Rome, led inevitably to the rule of demagogues and the mob.

— WSJ, "Five Best: Jeffrey Rosen," 16 Mar. 2018
And Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom are political demagogues who are using this issue to scare people, to create a war with Washington that shouldn't exist.

— Fox News, "Is Pennsylvania special election a bellwether for midterms?," 14 Mar. 2018
Two plus two equals four whether a child says so or a demagogue denies it.

— Anchorage Daily News, "The child soldiers of the gun-control war," 25 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'demagogue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

When the ancient Greeks used dēmagōgos (from dēmos, meaning "people," and agein, "to lead") they meant someone good-a leader who used outstanding oratorical skills to further the interests of the common people. Mid-17th-century writers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Dryden-and, later, Jonathan Swift-employed the English word that way. But, at the same time, the word took a negative turn, coming to suggest one who uses powers of persuasion to sway and mislead. "A plausible, insignificant word, in the mouth of an expert demagogue, is a dangerous and a dreadful weapon," declared Robert South, known for his sermons, in 1716.

Origin and Etymology of demagogue

borrowed from Greek dēmagōgós, from dêmos "people" + -agōgos "leading, impelling" — more at demo-, -agogue

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1648

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

demagogue Synonyms

Synonyms

agitator, exciter, firebrand, fomenter, incendiary, inciter, instigator, kindler, provocateur, rabble-rouser;

Near Antonyms

peacemaker, reconciler, uniter;

advocate, apostle, backer, booster, champion, exponent, persuader, promoter, proponent, reformer, reformist, supporter;

alarmist, extremist, insurgent, insurrectionist, radical, rebel, revolter, revolutionary, revolutionist, subversive, troublemaker;

prodder, prompter, provoker;

agent provocateur;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

demagogue

verb dem·a·gogue \ ˈde-mə-ˌgäg \

variants: or less commonly demagog

demagogued also demagoged; demagoguing also demagoging

intransitive verb

: to behave like a demagogue

transitive verb

: to treat (something, such as an issue) in the manner of a demagogue

Examples of demagogue in a Sentence

But Clinton's boldness seemed to work, at least within the Beltway. House Republicans mostly stifled the urge to demagogue against his plan. —Tom Morganthau et al., Newsweek, 11 Dec. 1995

Recent Examples of demagogue from the Web

With an election coming, advantage goes to those who stayed on the sidelines of the fight and now can demagogue on impossible solutions that would impose no pain and deliver free goodies.

— author: charles wohlforth | opinion, Anchorage Daily News, "A $5,000 dividend would put the ‘Alaska experiment’ in deep danger," 2 Mar. 2018
And any would-be immigration deal was undercut by his shameful willingness to demagogue a handful of murder cases to stir up xenophobia against all migrants, especially brown ones.

— will bunch, Philly.com, "Trump and his teleprompter assure America that the State of the Union is strong. No, really | Will Bunch," 30 Jan. 2018
On Friday Trump will visit Long Island, where 15 members of MS-13 were arrested—a trip that would fit a political plan to demagogue Hispanic immigrants as imminent threats to white Americans, and white women in particular.

— jamelle bouie, Slate Magazine, "Make America Afraid Again," 27 July 2017