The History of Propaganda

Propaganda is today most often used in reference to political statements, but the word comes to our language through its use in a religious context. The Congregatio de propaganda fide (“Congregation for propagating the faith”) was an organization established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV as a means of furthering Catholic missionary activity. The word propaganda is from the ablative singular feminine of propogandus, which is the gerundive of the Latin propagare, meaning “to propagate.” The first use of the word propaganda (without the rest of the Latin title) in English was in reference to this Catholic organization. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that it began to be used as a term denoting ideas or information that are of questionable accuracy as a means of advancing a cause.

Examples of propaganda in a Sentence

She didn't buy into the propaganda of her day that women had to be soft and submissive. — Maria Shriver, Time, 26 Oct. 2009 They see all clear thinking, all sense of reality, and all fineness of living, threatened on every side by propaganda, by advertisement, by film and television. — C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism, (1961) 2009 We've so bought into the mass delusion, the nutty propaganda, that now the ideal American family is one that's on steroids … — Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2009 … just propaganda for a mode of life no one could live without access to the very impulse-suppressing, nostalgia-provoking drugs they don't want you to have … — Richard Ford, Independence Day, 1995 He was accused of spreading propaganda. The report was nothing but lies and propaganda. See More

Recent Examples on the Web In what has been as much a series of propaganda exercises as military ones, China over the past few days has threatened territory that Taiwan considers its own more directly than ever before. — Vivian Wang, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Aug. 2022 Griner being a Black, gay woman held in Russia, a country with anti-gay propaganda law (that was extended to include adults in mid-July), is also not lost on her supporters. — Brooklyn White, Essence, 5 Aug. 2022 In addition, Russia and China continue to wage aggressive social media propaganda campaigns aimed at further political divides among American audiences. — Amanda Seitz, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022 There can be little doubt that these draconian actions have their roots in past Beijing propaganda claiming that China had handled the virus more effectively than other nations. — Milton Ezrati, Forbes, 11 July 2022 And especially in Moscow there’s not much pro-war propaganda. — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 24 May 2022 For now, officials are swaddling Mr. Xi in effusive propaganda. — Chris Buckley, New York Times, 1 May 2022 The rise in Russian online propaganda marks an expansion of the Kremlin’s influence campaigns in the region, according to four Western officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing investigations. — Washington Post, 21 Apr. 2022 The language of the war is alive in the propaganda on Russian TV screens today. — Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, 7 Mar. 2022 See More

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