spin doctor
7
7.1
- noun
- /spɪn ˈdɒktər/
- Literature
:
asesor de comunicación
- Modern democratic politicians have found the moral equivalents of war through investigative hearings, spin doctors, negative ads, debates, and such media events as "Crossfire."
- Republican spin doctors
- spin doctor, P.R. guru
- Clinton spin doctor
Examples
-
The ideal is tested constantly in this age of mass marketing, public relations, and so-called spin doctors who attempt to distribute information with a specific goal in mind.
Academic text (1993) -
They are bringing back as their spokesman and spin doctor, Damian McBride.
-
The spin doctors wanted us to believe that this election would be close.
Blog text (20) -
You... are a lousy spin doctor, David.
-
Have the socialist spin doctors run out of words?
Blog text (8) -
She's asking a spin doctor to make an honest assessment on the spin.
Blog text (30) -
There are spin doctors who want their man to be reelected at all costs.
Blog text (14) -
Bennett is also justly famous as a spin doctor.
Academic text (1994) -
Yet today, the Kremlin's spin doctors are creating a new stab-in-the-back legend of how the West betrayed Moscow during the 1990s.
Academic text (2008) -
The politician hired a spin doctor to manage the backlash from his controversial remarks.
Synonyms
15
7.8
A person who gives one-sided or false information to help a political group
2
9.9
A person who says things to make news or actions seem better to influence people
Antonyms
How Manipulative
19
9.3
- Literature
15
7.8
- Literature
7
7.1
69
5.0
- Literature
∞
1.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional from 'spin' (to present or slant information) and 'doctor' (to tamper with/alter; here interpreted as an agent), yielding 'a person who manipulates how information is presented.' This follows a regular agentive compound pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the given senses of the constituents.
Etymology
Spin doctor comes from two clear images: spin (to turn or twist a story) and doctor (to fix or change something). One popular story says people imagined someone 'twisting' facts and 'fixing' them to make news look better, so a spin doctor now means a person who tries to control how events are shown to the public.