pander

verb pan·der \ ˈpan-dər \

Updated on: 8 Apr 2018

Definition of pander

pandered; pandering play \ˈpan-d(ə-)riŋ\

intransitive verb

: to act as a pander; especially : to provide gratification for others' desires

films that pander to the basest emotions

… used his brilliant gifts to pander to popular taste.
—Hubert Saal

—

panderer

play \ˈpan-dər-ər\ noun

See pander defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of pander from the Web

Seemed like pandering to a baby boomer generation with rose tinted glasses about physical discipline.

— jamie ballard, Good Housekeeping, "Last Night's "Roseanne" Episode Has Some People Seriously Upset," 4 Apr. 2018
If Stop & Frisk is struck down by the pandering NYC politicians, increases in crime & eventual terrorist attacks will be on them.

— matt ford, The New Republic, "What London Can Learn From New York About Crime," 3 Apr. 2018
The electoral commission that used to pander to Mr Mugabe has a new chairperson claiming independence.

— The Economist, "The crocodile swims in murky watersZimbabwe’s new president says he is a democrat. Is he?," 1 Mar. 2018
Give Hogan and Van Hollen credit for pandering to more than just UMBC’s fan base, though.

— jonas shaffer, baltimoresun.com, "All politics is local pandering: Hogan, Van Hollen pick UMBC to win NCAA tournament," 15 Mar. 2018
And uber-lawyer Laura Ellsworth, also of Pittsburgh and international law firm Jones Day, seeks to offer non-pandering, sensible views.

— john baer, Philly.com, "A change in the (GOP primary) weather," 5 Mar. 2018
The Hindu-nationalist BJP had excoriated the secular Congress for pandering to religious and ethnic minorities.

— The Economist, "All hat and cattleIndia’s BJP government looks ever more like the one it replaced," 22 Feb. 2018
And yet, despite its efforts to pander to formalists, the show wound up pissing them off.

— annalee newitz, Ars Technica, "Star Trek: Discovery ends the season with a bang (and a whimper)," 13 Feb. 2018
Police arrested David and Fay Romesburg on charges of pimping and pandering in late January.

— jared gilmour, sacbee, "‘I’m a writer,’ says prolific feminist erotica author. But she’s also a prolific pimp, California cops say | The Sacramento Bee," 2 Mar. 2018

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

Distinctive Meanings of procure

Procure, like many other English words, has a split personality. On the one hand, it may carry a perfectly benign meaning, such as "to obtain" (“she procured supplies”) or "to bring about" (“the settlement was successfully procured”). On the other hand, it has long been used in the specific sense of obtaining someone for, or bringing about, sexually promiscuous purposes. In this regard it is similar to the word pander, which entered the English language with the innocent meaning “a go-between in love intrigues” (the word comes from the name Pandare, a character in Chaucer’s poem Troilus and Criseyde who facilitates the affair between the titular characters), and soon after took on the meaning “pimp.”

First Known Use of pander

1523

pander

noun

Definition of pander

1 a : a go-between in love intrigues

b : pimp

2 : someone who caters to or exploits the weaknesses of others

See pander defined for kids

Examples of pander in a Sentence

an arrest record that revealed that he had variously been a pander, a pickpocket, and a drug dealer

Recent Examples of pander from the Web

Rather than being greeted as an honest attempt to reach out to a voting group that overwhelmingly dislikes him, the taco bowl post was widely mocked as an obvious, ham-fisted pander.

— farhad manjoo, New York Times, "Twitter, Trump’s Trusty Weapon, Could Backfire," 18 May 2016