propaganda

noun

pro·​pa·​gan·​da ˌprä-pə-ˈgan-də 

ˌprō-

1

capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions

2

: the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person

3

: ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause

also : a public action having such an effect

Did you know?

The History of Propaganda

Propaganda is today most often used in reference to political statements, but the word comes to our language through its use in a religious context. The Congregatio de propaganda fide (“Congregation for propagating the faith”) was an organization established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV as a means of furthering Catholic missionary activity. The word propaganda is from the ablative singular feminine of propogandus, which is the gerundive of the Latin propagare, meaning “to propagate.” The first use of the word propaganda (without the rest of the Latin title) in English was in reference to this Catholic organization. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that it began to be used as a term denoting ideas or information that are of questionable accuracy as a means of advancing a cause.

Examples of propaganda in a Sentence

She didn't buy into the propaganda of her day that women had to be soft and submissive. —Maria Shriver, Time, 26 Oct. 2009

They see all clear thinking, all sense of reality, and all fineness of living, threatened on every side by propaganda, by advertisement, by film and television. —C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism, (1961) 2009

We've so bought into the mass delusion, the nutty propaganda, that now the ideal American family is one that's on steroids … —Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2009

… just propaganda for a mode of life no one could live without access to the very impulse-suppressing, nostalgia-provoking drugs they don't want you to have … —Richard Ford, Independence Day, 1995

He was accused of spreading propaganda.

The report was nothing but lies and propaganda.

Recent Examples on the Web

ByteDance has also signed agreements with China’s government to spread propaganda about the CCP’s genocide of Uyghurs and to set up an artificial intelligence research institute. —The Editors, National Review, 18 Dec. 2024

Real frustrations can be hard to distinguish from propaganda that plays on them. —Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2024

This shift is mainly attributed to protests by Polish farmers against Ukrainian agricultural exports, growing wartime tensions, and Russian propaganda aiming to exploit historical tensions between the two nations. —Katya Soldak, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024

The portraits Joseph took for the agency captured the dignity of the women at work on SS George Washington Carver, exactly what the propaganda agency wanted to show. —April White, JSTOR Daily, 16 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Congregatio de propaganda fide Congregation for propagating the faith, organization established by Pope Gregory XV †1623

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing propaganda

• counter-propaganda
• propaganda machine

Kids Definition

propaganda

noun

pro·​pa·​gan·​da ˌpräp-ə-ˈgan-də 

ˌprō-pə-

: an organized spreading of certain ideas

also : the ideas spread in this way

propagandist

-dəst 

noun or adjective

propagandistic

-ˌgan-ˈdis-tik 

adjective