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Glite Dictionary
🌱 To plant 💭 To spread ideas 🐖 A female pig
to sow

to sow

35 6.6
To cause an idea or feeling to grow among people
  • verb
  • /soʊ/
translation icon : sembrar
  • At any rate, the authorities ought to be more cautious about sowing panic in the general public.
  • sow doubt
  • sow confusion
  • reap what you sow

No, no, he, he draws attention by sowing chaos, conflict.

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Examples

  • Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

    Francis of Assisi (1961)

  • The purpose of spreading such a rumor was to sow doubt in the hearts of Muhammad's followers.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Longer term, this is going to sow the seeds today of the next financial crisis.

  • And now he is sowing doubt in our foreign policy.

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

  • But All in all, their number one goal is to sow dissent.

    Julian Dorey

  • By failing these children, we sow the seeds of lost generations.

    Academic text (2007)

  • I think the competition is sowing seeds of doubt in your brand.

  • Are we battling the fear our enemies sow by planting seeds of hope instead?

    Academic text (2007)

  • The Lord also hates a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The activist aimed to sow hope and unity among the diverse community.

Synonyms

to infect
vsto sow
79 4.1

Spread an emotion or idea to other people

introduces or spreads ideas more deliberately, aiming for slow development over time
to propagate
vsto sow
23 5.9

Spread ideas, news, or feelings to many people

focuses on starting and letting ideas develop over time rather than wide spread
to percolate
vsto sow
8 6.1

Spread slowly through a group until many people know or feel it

introduces or spreads ideas more actively to make them grow intentionally
to sow the seeds of
vsto sow
  • Informal
2 6.3

To cause a small action now that brings bigger effects later

introduces ideas more broadly rather than only causing a single future result
to sow the seeds of change
vsto sow
  • Informal
5.0

Start small actions that lead to change later

introduces or spreads ideas more generally, not only to cause change

Antonyms

to suppress
176 4.8

To stop public protest by force or by people in power

to eradicate
85 6.6

Remove something harmful completely, for example a disease or pest

Idioms

to reap what you sow
  • Informal
8 6.0

To get the results of your actions, good or bad

to sow one's wild oats
  • NSFW
3 9.8

To have many short sexual relationships when young

to sow the seeds of
  • Informal
2 6.3

To cause a small action now that brings bigger effects later

to sow one's oats
  • NSFW
9.9

Have many casual sexual relationships when young before settling down

to sow the seeds of change
  • Informal
5.0

Start small actions that lead to change later

to sow wild oats
  • NSFW
9.6

Behave carelessly and have many romantic adventures before settling down

Phrasal Verbs

to sow in
1 3.4

To put seeds in the ground so they can grow

to sow seed
1 2.2

To plant seeds in the ground so they can grow

Compounds

brood sow
  • Jargon
8.9

A female pig kept to have piglets

sow bug
  • US
7.9

A small grey animal with a hard oval body that lives under stones and logs

sow thistle
9.6

A prickly plant with yellow flowers and white sap often found in gardens as a weed

How Deeply

to ingrain
31 6.1
to instill
  • US
71 4.8
to sow
35 6.6
to introduce
520 2.1
to suggest
∞ 1.6
to mention
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

sow infinitive
sowing present participle
sows third person singular
sowed past
sown past participle

Etymology

The verb sow meaning 'to introduce or spread' comes from the farming verb sow, which meant 'to plant seeds'. Think of planting small 'seeds' of an idea that grow, so to sow distrust is to start it so it can spread among people.