How to Use demagogue in a Sentence

demagogue

1 of 2 noun
  • His opponent called him a bigoted demagogue.
  • Here's the background: Tennessee's finances are a mess. The state is facing a shortfall of some $310 million—but legislators remember what happened last year when they considered imposing the first income tax on wages. Goaded by talk-radio demagogues, hundreds of citizens surrounded the Statehouse in a near riot.
    Editor & Publisher, 4 Feb. 2002
  • His first glance was the frown of the man; the second was the bland and sickly smile of the demagogue.
    Washington Post, 3 Sep. 2021
  • Frank’s Truman is a populist in the best sense of the word: not a demagogue but a true man of the people.
    Beverly Gage, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022
  • The past century has been, sometimes for the better but more often for the worse, the era of the demagogue.
    Frederick Taylor, WSJ, 21 July 2017
  • But Pence is, at core, a small-d democrat, not a demagogue.
    The Tylt, cleveland.com, 19 Oct. 2017
  • Two plus two equals four whether a child says so or a demagogue denies it.
    Anchorage Daily News, 25 Feb. 2018
  • To suggest otherwise was to be slapped down as a rank demagogue of the worse kind.
    Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 11 June 2019
  • The most fervent devotees of a cult or demagogue are those who mistake courtship for love and the power of a leader for their own.
    Greg Jackson, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
  • The world-class demagogue from Tabasco, who thrives on nationalism, now has the bit in his mouth.
    Mary Anastasia O’Grady, WSJ, 21 Feb. 2021
  • In some ways, that could make the post-election Trump more powerful as a demagogue than he's ever been.
    Damon Linker, TheWeek, 4 Dec. 2020
  • But this time, the despot, the demagogue, and the war-crimes advocate had something unusual in common.
    William Saletan, Slate Magazine, 20 Sep. 2017
  • Any future populist demagogue who finds his way into the White House will have access to the same power.
    Matthew Yglesias, Vox, 17 Aug. 2018
  • Is Willie Stark a redneck demagogue who regularly flouts the rule of law?
    Michael Dirda, WSJ, 23 Oct. 2020
  • But that was a lot of explaining to get to the exact same conclusion, that the Black Heretic is a selfish, rotten demagogue.
    Devon Maloney, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2021
  • The season also introduces a new demagogue: Vecna, who is mentioned in the trailer as one the gang is ready to fight.
    Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 23 May 2022
  • In Trump, many of us — myself included — see a scary demagogue.
    Greg Jefferson, ExpressNews.com, 13 Nov. 2020
  • In the age of mass media, a skilled demagogue like Rhodes can rise to great heights and defy any easy moral arc as long as the public continues to sit back and enjoy the show.
    Jake Tapper, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2020
  • Who knew prayer and protest couldn’t coexist with respect to dealing with a demagogue?
    Michael Arceneaux, The Root, 3 Oct. 2017
  • There is a reason that Romans 13:1 has been the Bible verse of choice for demagogues and upholders of inequitable systems.
    Jonathan L. Walton, Time, 22 June 2018
  • What Kelly is, though, is a pretty blond white woman who exists in the era of a racist demagogue president.
    Michael Arceneaux, The Root, 5 June 2017
  • What's a demagogue's reaction to a rabid crowd at a rally?
    Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2021
  • What cost did Kelly ever pay for being a racial demagogue?
    Michael Arceneaux, The Root, 19 June 2017
  • But the next incarnation of a digital demagogue may not emerge in public view.
    Owen Thomas, SFChronicle.com, 13 Jan. 2021
  • The base rhetoric of populist demagogues around the world is terrifyingly simple.
    Laurence Scott, Wired, 28 Mar. 2020
  • Help from President Trump was probably even further from the mind of the left-wing demagogue from the southern Mexican state of Tabasco.
    Mary Anastasia O’Grady, WSJ, 9 June 2019
  • DeMent’s attempts to expose Evangelists sinks to the same methods as a demagogue’s.
    Armond White, National Review, 28 Apr. 2023
  • Abensur got me making risotto long before cooking-show demagogues made many a home cook too nervous to try.
    Julia Tausch, Bon Appetit, 13 June 2018
  • Our politicians are dishonest demagogues because that tactic works.
    Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 4 Dec. 2023
  • The most pivotal election will take place in November, when the world’s most powerful democracy decides whether to turn itself over to an avowedly authoritarian demagogue.
    Brian Klaas, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2024
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demagogue

2 of 2 verb
  • At least, not if leaders choose not to demagogue the issues.
    Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 3 June 2022
  • When Rs propose some spending cuts, Ds demagogue it to smithereens.
    Theodoric Meyer, Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2023
  • With an election coming, advantage goes to those who stayed on the sidelines of the fight and now can demagogue on impossible solutions that would impose no pain and deliver free goodies.
    Author: Charles Wohlforth | Opinion, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Mar. 2018
  • The party seems determined to try to racially demagogue its way back to national power, even as an overwhelming majority of the country applauds the all-too-rare conviction of a white police officer who murdered a Black man.
    Ankush Khardori, The New Republic, 21 Apr. 2021
  • But Clinton's boldness seemed to work, at least within the Beltway. House Republicans mostly stifled the urge to demagogue against his plan.
    Tom Morganthau Et Al., Newsweek, 11 Dec. 1995
  • At least, not if leaders choose not to demagogue the issues.
    Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 3 June 2022
  • When Rs propose some spending cuts, Ds demagogue it to smithereens.
    Theodoric Meyer, Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2023
  • With an election coming, advantage goes to those who stayed on the sidelines of the fight and now can demagogue on impossible solutions that would impose no pain and deliver free goodies.
    Author: Charles Wohlforth | Opinion, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Mar. 2018
  • The party seems determined to try to racially demagogue its way back to national power, even as an overwhelming majority of the country applauds the all-too-rare conviction of a white police officer who murdered a Black man.
    Ankush Khardori, The New Republic, 21 Apr. 2021
  • But Clinton's boldness seemed to work, at least within the Beltway. House Republicans mostly stifled the urge to demagogue against his plan.
    Tom Morganthau Et Al., Newsweek, 11 Dec. 1995

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'demagogue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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