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fearmongering

fearmongering

7 8.0
Trying to make people afraid to change their views or actions
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪrˌmʌŋɡərɪŋ/
translation icon : infundir miedo
  • Whereas no terrorists have been caught along the Southwestern border, fearmongering and scapegoating of undocumented immigrants are on the rise.

Examples

  • Awad has said the amendment passed "under a campaign of fearmongering" about Islam.

    Blog text (17)
  • No editorializing and no fearmongering.

  • And if the party and media do change, what will they replace the fearmongering with?

    Blog text (23)
  • I can see that they think they are doing the right thing in their fearmongering.

    Blog text (5)
  • Will Americans fall for their fearmongering?

  • No doubt that there is a lot of fearmongering going on, and Democrats lead the charge.

    Blog text (8)
  • Of course, none of this means anyone ought to cave to the fearmongering.

    Blog text (14)
  • I am so pleased to see the first commenter not buying into this fearmongering.

    Blog text (33)
  • Wow, that Greg Palast article was full of all sorts of fearmongering.

    Blog text (20)
  • The politician's speech was criticized for its blatant fearmongering, as it aimed to incite panic among the public.

Synonyms

demagoguery
vsfearmongering
  • Literature
13 9.5

To win support by using strong emotion and fear in speeches

targets deliberate fear spreading specifically to change opinions or actions
alarmism
vsfearmongering
4 8.1

Making dangers seem worse than they are to make people worried for no reason

is focused on influencing choices, not only on overwarning people
scaremongering
vsfearmongering
2 7.3

Spreading exaggerated fear on purpose to make people worry

is a deliberate spread meant to change opinions or actions
fud
vsfearmongering
  • Jargon
1 9.9

Spreading fear and doubt to change people's decisions

is a purposeful campaign to influence opinions rather than casual talk
doom mongering
vsfearmongering
  • Literature
8.4

Saying the future will be bad to make people worried

aims to provoke fear to influence views now, not only predict outcomes

Antonyms

51 3.7

Words or actions that make someone feel less worried and more confident

9 2.7

A state without strong feelings or worry in your mind

How Demagogic

fearmongering
7 8.0
demagogue tactic
  • Literature
9.5
emotivism
9.9
finger-pointing
  • Informal
18 4.6

Surface Forms

fearmongering singular

Morphology

fearmongering = fearmonger (semi-transparent) = fear + monger + ing

The noun is formed from the verb 'fearmonger' with '-ing', but the compound base uses 'monger' in a somewhat specialized sense, so the meaning is not fully straightforward for all learners.

Etymology

Fearmongering is formed from fear and monger, where monger once meant 'seller' and still appears in words like fishmonger and warmonger. So fearmongering is like 'selling' fear to people, which explains why it means spreading fear on purpose to change what people think or do.