This week’s theme
Miscellaneous words

This week’s words
narcissism
lien
vitriol
precarious
demagogue

This week’s comments
AWADmail 745

Next week’s theme
Verbs

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(DEM-uh-gog)

MEANING:

noun: A person who appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the people to gain power.
verb tr., intr.: To manipulate an issue, to speak, or to act in the manner of a demagogue.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek demagogos (leader of the people), from demos (people) + agogos (leader). Earliest documented use: 1649.

USAGE:

“We’re at a tipping point in America, and a media so eager to be objective can no longer pretend that Donald Trump isn’t the most dangerous, authoritarian, and unhinged demagogue to ever seek the nation’s highest office. We can barely keep up now with his misstatements and lies, with his name-calling and racist rants, with his crazy, self-absorbed pontifications. It’s so bad that I almost suspect each new mini-scandal is a deliberate ruse to distract from the last one. And his candidacy is so toxic that I can no longer pretend to show respect for anyone who still supports him.”
Dianne Williamson; Time to Stop Pretending Trump is Presidential Material; Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Massachusetts); Jun 9, 2016.

In His Own Words:
“We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.”
-Donald Trump (reference)

See more usage examples of demagogue in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: