Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to prey on fears

to prey on fears

1 7.4
To use people's fears to get money or power
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : explotar miedos
  • Politicians often prey on fears during election campaigns to sway public opinion.

Examples

  • Health care is aggressively marketed in this country on many levels, using messages that prey on fear and ignorance.

    Blog text (27)

  • A political system that preys on fear to divide us.

  • People are afraid because guys like packard prey on fear and weakness.

    The Wraith (1986)

  • Some companies prey on fears to sell products that promise safety and security.

  • Con artists prey on fears to trick people into giving away their money.

Synonyms

to prey
vsto prey on fears
75 7.8

To use people who are weak or trusting to get what you want

targets others' anxieties specifically to gain personal benefit
to play on fears
vsto prey on fears
5 7.4

Use people's fears to make them do what you want

focuses more on gaining personal advantage than on influencing behavior

Antonyms

to comfort
172 1.0

To make someone feel less upset or in pain

to reassure
163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Manipulative

to prey on fears
1 7.4
to exploit
214 5.6
to manipulate
382 6.1
to play a joke on
  • Informal
5 3.2

Surface Forms

prey on fears infinitive
preyed on fears past
preyed on fears past participle
preying on fears present participle
preys on fears third person singular

Morphology

prey + on + fear

The verb 'prey' (to exploit) combined with the preposition 'on' plus 'fears' directly conveys targeting or exploiting people's fears; the meaning follows transparently from the constituent meanings and the common collocation 'prey on X'. Although figurative, this composition is predictable and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the parts should infer the overall sense.

Etymology

Prey on fears comes from the image of a hunter or wild animal that preys on a scared creature, taking advantage of its weakness. So when people or companies 'prey on fears', they are using people's fears to get money, votes, or power — in other words, 'to take advantage of people's fears'.