manifesto
Americannoun
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manifestoes,
plural
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manifestos
plural
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a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization.
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a mission statement or other document written and disseminated by an individual or group to enumerate or expound the guiding principles and beliefs that inform their actions.
The mail bomber submitted his 35,000-word manifesto to two major national news publications.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of manifesto
First recorded in 1640–50; from Italian; see manifest (adjective)
Explanation
A manifesto is a public statement stating your views or your intention to do something. If you feel you should be voted "Most Likely to Succeed," you could issue a manifesto describing all the reasons why you deserve to win. Manifesto comes from the Italian word of the same spelling, meaning "public declaration explaining past actions and announcing the motive for forthcoming ones." You'll most often hear about a manifesto that's been issued by a group, like a political party or government — for example, a set of new rules that an incoming regime is going to enforce. Though organizations are more likely to create a manifesto, it's also possible for an individual to issue one about more personal ideas.
Vocabulary lists containing manifesto
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Divergent
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Nelson Mandela "I am Prepared to Die" (1964)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In his illustrated 1932 manifesto “Horizons,” Norman Bel Geddes cast “new design” as a path toward “economy, efficiency, comfort and happiness.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Is it a manifesto of some kind, with all your Jerry Maguire-type insights about how you think the rest of your life will go?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
In the conference hall, he offered more details albeit with some of the proposals relating to the content of the Labour manifesto at the next general election rather than delivering immediate action.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
“I have the right to like the people I covered,” the 81-year-old Mr. Gammons writes in a kind of manifesto, presumably aimed at the drive-by cynics of his profession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The manifesto utterly rejected the notion of trusteeship, the idea that the white government somehow had African interests at heart.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Key policy clashes have yet to develop with most manifestoes not due to be released until after Easter.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
“I don’t need 20-page manifestoes about how I’m going to do this, this and that.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2021
Some babysitters in the postwar period even created babysitter unions, drawing up contracts and manifestoes detailing what they would and would not do, and the working conditions they expected.
From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2020
It features the actress as 13 different characters — all of whom recite artist manifestoes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2018
No doubt there have been virulent manifestoes, which, however, only affect their authors.
From History of the Commune of 1871 by P. Lissagary
And while tech journalists and academics might pore over them trying to glean nuggets of meaning, these executive manifestos are not necessarily landing with the general public.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
His manifestos mix smart political satire with comedic promises to cap croissant prices, improve WiFi on UK trains and conscript people using speakerphones on public transport.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Both major parties released manifestos with more than 1,000 individual promises each.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2026
Spiralism appears on subreddits, Discord servers, Facebook groups and even LinkedIn pages, where followers share AI-generated manifestos, glyphs and what followers describe as revelations from a conscious machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
The faction manifestos were written after the factions formed.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
