pressure group

Definition of pressure group

: an interest group organized to influence public and especially government policy but not to elect candidates to office

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about pressure group

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of pressure group in a Sentence

a pressure group trying to reduce taxes observed that if publishers gave in to every pressure group, nothing would ever get published

Recent Examples on the Web By the early 1900s, doing so had become all but essential, as a powerful new political pressure group, the Anti-Saloon League (ASL), began gaining traction, and the public started to take the temperance movement more seriously. — Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "Prohibition Was America’s First War on Drugs," 17 Jan. 2020 But pressure groups pushing for a ban have gathered support from mostly liberal lawmakers. — The Economist, "A Californian bill would make it harder to control the state’s thriving rats," 21 Nov. 2019 According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, a pressure group, the proportion of women in senior positions in EU governments has crept up from 25% in 2009 to 30% this September. — The Economist, "Finland’s new prime minister is the world’s youngest," 11 Dec. 2019 To cope with these problems, the citizens have continued to elect weak city governments, all built on compromise and deals with competing pressure groups. — Carl Nolte, SFChronicle.com, "It’s true — San Francisco is a mess. And everyone knows it," 8 June 2019 The final five points are based on CSR scores from JUST Capital, a pressure group. — The Economist, "Socially liberal companies really do contribute more to Democrats," 29 Aug. 2019 In any case, as soon as a UBI became law, pressure groups would call for expanded benefits. — Matthew Continetti, National Review, "A UBI Would Undermine Work," 25 July 2019 Some conservative pressure groups derided the policy trade as a sellout while liberals complained that ending the ban would serve Big Oil. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "The Oil Export Boom," 30 Aug. 2018 And even in Pyongyang, Western and South Korean pressure groups attest, the deadening totalitarian system is as intrusive as ever. — The Economist, "What life is like for ordinary North Koreans," 26 May 2018

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about pressure group

Dictionary Entries near pressure group

pressure gradient

Statistics for pressure group

Last Updated

16 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Pressure group.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pressure%20group. Accessed 20 Feb. 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

judgment

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

More Confusing Words—Quiz

The magician ______ moved the selected card to the top of the deck.

discretely discreetly

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.