demagogical

9.7

Appealing to people's feelings and fears instead of facts and clear reasons

adjective
/ˌdɛm.əˈɡɑː.ɡɪ.kəl/

Formal

: demagógico

The politician's speech was filled with demagogical rhetoric.

Examples

Some articles decried the demagogical rhetoric dominating the campaign debates.
The candidate's demagogical tactics appealed to voters' fears rather than their hopes.
Critics accused the leader of using demagogical language to manipulate public opinion.
Many voters are swayed by demagogical appeals.
The politician's speech was criticized for its demagogical approach, appealing more to emotions than logic.
She recognized the demagogical tactics used to sway public opinion rather than provide clear solutions.
His demagogical rhetoric aimed to exploit people's fears rather than engage in meaningful debate.

Synonyms

demagogic

vsdemagogical

Formal

4 8.8

Trying to make people support you by using strong feelings instead of facts

is the other adjectival form with identical sense

propagandistic

vsdemagogical

Literature

1 8.3

Giving biased information to influence people's views

appeals to emotions and prejudices rather than promoting a cause

Antonyms

rational

382 3.8

Based on clear thinking and facts rather than emotion

How Demagogic

demagogical

Formal

9.7

rabble-rousing

Literature

2 8.6

inflammatory

Literature

41 7.4

emotional

535 2.1

Surface Forms

demagogical positive

demagogic positive

Morphology

demagogical = demagogue (transparent) = demagogue + ical

Standard adjective formation from 'demagogue' using the adjective-forming suffix '-ical'; the meaning 'relating to a demagogue' is directly derived.

Etymology

Demagogical comes from the Greek parts demos ('the people') and agogos ('leader'), and you see the same demo in democracy ('rule by the people'). So a demagogue was a leader who spoke directly to the people, often using strong feelings and fears, and demagogical now describes speech that appeals to emotion rather than calm reason.