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• propaganda
  propaganda

  noun

  information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
• Propaganda
  Propaganda

  noun

  RC Church a congregation responsible for directing the work of the foreign missions and the training of priests for these

propaganda

American  

[prop-uh-gan-duh] / ˌprɒp əˈgæn də /

noun

• propaganda
  plural

1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.

3. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.

4. Roman Catholic Church.

   1. a committee of cardinals, established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, having supervision over foreign missions and the training of priests for these missions.

   2. a school College of Propaganda established by Pope Urban VIII for the education of priests for foreign missions.

5. Archaic. an organization or movement for the spreading of propaganda.

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Propaganda ¹ British  

/ ˌprɒpəˈɡændə /

noun

1. RC Church a congregation responsible for directing the work of the foreign missions and the training of priests for these

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propaganda ² British  

/ ˌprɒpəˈɡændə /

noun

1. the organized dissemination of information, allegations, etc, to assist or damage the cause of a government, movement, etc

2. such information, allegations, etc

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propaganda Cultural  

1. Official government communications to the public that are designed to influence opinion. The information may be true or false, but it is always carefully selected for its political effect.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• propagandism
  noun
• propagandist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• propaganda
  plural

Etymology

Origin of propaganda

First recorded in 1710–20; from New Latin, short for congregātiō dē propāgandā fidē “congregation for propagating the faith”; propāgandā, ablative singular feminine gerundive of propāgāre; see propagate

Explanation

Propaganda is the spreading of information in support of a cause. It’s not so important whether the information is true or false or if the cause is just or not — it’s all propaganda. The word propaganda is often used in a negative sense, especially for politicians who make false claims to get elected or spread rumors to get their way. In fact, any campaign that is used to persuade can be called propaganda.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

propaganda Propaganda

Anthropic has released a 154-page report describing how bad actors used its Claude AI system for state-sponsored surveillance, propaganda operations and more.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

“I don’t know whether or not the actors realised — we never discussed it,” Verhoeven said of playing his propaganda relentlessly straight.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

It also helped show that an animated kids series can tackle weighty themes such as war, genocide, imperialism, sexism, propaganda and political corruption in a serialized story and be a hit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

When Mao Zedong visited Moscow in 1950 to forge the Sino-Soviet alliance, Soviet propaganda posters depicted Stalin as slightly taller than Mao—a carefully calibrated signal of who was the elder brother.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Joseph Goebbels, the composer of blustery Nazi propaganda, had been issuing nonsense statements for years.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys

Or so argued Belisário Penna, the head of Propaganda and Sanitary Education in Brazil, in the early 20th century.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

"MTI has been liberated and works freely... Topics and organisations previously banned have returned to our coverage. Propaganda has been pushed out," said an editor.

From Barron's ● May 30, 2026

The EP comes along with a digital e-zine edition of U2's fanzine Propaganda.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

I called my great friend and partner at Propaganda, Dominic Sena, who had directed him in “Kalifornia.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2024

When the Japanese Propaganda Corps lands in the small Filipino village of Santiago, Bauang, there are a few million leaflets onboard their battleship.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• disinformation
• hype
• indoctrination
• publicity