pander

verb pan·der \ ˈpan-dər \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Examples: pander in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Distinctive Meanings of procure

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

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panderer

play \ˈpan-dər-ər\ noun

See pander defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of pander from the Web

But Pakistan needs a prime minister who will lead it to a brighter future, not one who stunts democracy by leaning on the army for support and panders to every popular prejudice that brings him a step closer to power.

— sadanand dhume, WSJ, "Will Imran Khan Turn Pakistan Into an Islamic Welfare State?," 12 July 2018
Like Reagan and Obama, O’Rourke is making a bipartisan pitch without pandering on policy.

— gilbert garcia, San Antonio Express-News, "O’Rourke’s hopes hinge on persuasion as well as turnout," 7 July 2018
But a spate of recent flubs have marred the efforts of both candidates, with some voters saying the outreach reads as pandering, and only reminds them of how their votes are taken for granted.

— New York Times, "Black Voters Have More Leverage in This Governor’s Race. They Mean to Use It.," 13 June 2018
Since the election, Oliver pandered to the audience to pick on the Trump administration at all cost.

— lukas mikelionis, Fox News, "TV's imported comedians often stumble while trying to 'fix' America," 1 June 2018
Director Brad Bird never panders with The Iron Giant's Space Age setting.

— tom philip, GQ, "One of the all-time great animated movies is streaming now.," 24 Apr. 2018
In one popular interpretation of comics history, American superhero comics started out as simple, pandering stories for kids, but have matured and become more sophisticated over time.

— noah berlatsky, The Verge, "The best superhero stories admit that superheroes are ridiculous," 11 July 2018
The now-52-year-old, who managed an upscale prostitution ring that catered to the rich and famous, was arrested in 1993 and charged with five counts of pandering.

— stephanie nolasco, Fox News, "Former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss claims Charlie Sheen spent '$300,000 or $400,000' on escorts," 8 June 2018
In what can only be described as pandering to a Republican White House, perhaps for no other reason than self-interests, Rocha’s actions have been called unacceptable, disgraceful and an affront to the organization’s mission.

— elaine ayala, San Antonio Express-News, "LULAC disgraced president may prove difficult to unseat," 4 Feb. 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.”