propaganda

CEFRC1

/ˌpɹɒpəˈɡændə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Information spread to influence opinions, often unfairly or deceptively.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Such communication specifically when it is biased, misleading, or provoking mainly emotional responses.

Examples

  • Appreciate the importance of propaganda in politics.

  • Have you ever compared the assertions of official propaganda to reality?

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • [ˌpɹɒp.əˈɡæn.də]
  • [ˌpɹɔp.əˈɡan.də]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Agitation, publicity, public communication aimed at influencing an audience and furthering an agenda.

  2. The propagation of the faith by the Catholic Church by means of missionary work etc.

More examples

In context

  • Don't swallow that slick propaganda.

  • Despite being biased and often untrue, propaganda material can be useful in OSINT analysis.

  • Near-synonym: public diplomacy (sometimes asserted to be synonymous)

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During the war, the government spread blank to convince citizens to support the conflict.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From New Latin prōpāganda, short for Congregātiō dē Prōpāgandā Fidē (“a committee of cardinals established in 1622 by Gregory XV to supervise foreign missions”, literally “congregation for propagating the faith”), and properly the ablative feminine gerundive of Latin prōpāgō (“propagate”). Once the word had been detached from the phrase from which it originated, it could be reinterpreted as a neuter plural gerundive, meaning "things to be propagated"; compare agenda. Modern political sense dates from World War I, not originally pejorative.