demagogue
Definitions
A political leader who wins support by appealing to people's emotions and prejudices rather than reason.
煽动家，靠迎合民众情绪和偏见而非理性来博取支持的政客。
To present or argue an issue in a deliberately emotional, manipulative way.
（就某议题）刻意以煽情、操弄的方式鼓动、蛊惑。
Root Breakdown
Root-deriveddem (people) + agogos (leader, from Greek agein 'to lead') = 'leader of the people.' The structure is neutral, but usage turned it negative: a demagogue leads the crowd by inflaming fear and prejudice instead of reasoning with it.
Root demo still carries 9 more wordsWhy It Means This
By word-formation a demagogue is simply a 'people-leader' — the same agōgos (leader) appears in pedagogue (child-leader = teacher). But ancient Athenian politics gave the word its sting: demagogues were the orators who whipped up the assembly for their own ends. The neutral shape and the negative meaning sit side by side, which is exactly why it's a useful word — it labels a leader whose method, not whose cause, is the problem.
Common Collocations
- 1.populist demagogue民粹煽动家
Example Sentences
- 1.
The demagogue blamed every problem on immigrants to win votes.
- 2.
Critics warned that the candidate was a dangerous demagogue.
- 3.
He demagogued the issue instead of offering real solutions.