1
: something fed to domestic animals
especially
: coarse food for cattle, horses, or sheep
2
: inferior or readily available material used to supply a heavy demand
fodder for tabloids
This sort of breezy plot line has become cheap fodder for novelists and screenwriters …—
Sally Bedell
Sally Bedell
fodder
transitive verb
Examples of fodder in a Sentence
His antics always make good fodder for the gossip columnists.
She often used her friends' problems as fodder for her novels.
Recent Examples on the Web
No angry sports talk radio fodder waiting to explode the next morning.
—Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2026
The labor movement undertook two fights, resisting workers being displaced by machines but also resisting workers being treated as machines, subhuman fodder fuelling technological progress.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2026
That his ascent coincided with the mainstreaming of nerdom and the heyday of the fuckboy was a stroke of luck, but the bassist and singer born Stephen Bruner knows that men’s hypocrisies and failures are timeless fodder for songwriting.
—Daniel Felsenthal, Pitchfork, 7 Apr. 2026
After a trial that became tabloid fodder due to her royal connections, she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison (and later released in 2019).
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 1 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fodder
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2026
The labor movement undertook two fights, resisting workers being displaced by machines but also resisting workers being treated as machines, subhuman fodder fuelling technological progress.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2026
That his ascent coincided with the mainstreaming of nerdom and the heyday of the fuckboy was a stroke of luck, but the bassist and singer born Stephen Bruner knows that men’s hypocrisies and failures are timeless fodder for songwriting.
—Daniel Felsenthal, Pitchfork, 7 Apr. 2026
After a trial that became tabloid fodder due to her royal connections, she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison (and later released in 2019).
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 1 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fodder
Cite this Entry
“Fodder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fodder. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fodder
noun
fod·der
ˈfäd-ər 
: coarse dry food (as cornstalks) for livestock
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
