advocacy
Americannoun
-
advocacies
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of advocacy
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English advocacye, from Medieval Latin advocātia; see advocate, -acy
Explanation
When you give your active support to an idea or cause, you are showing your advocacy for that cause. Your advocacy for an animal rights group might help raise money to save stray pups. The noun advocacy comes to English from a term used in Roman law. An advocate was a professional whose job was to plead cases in front of a court of law. That meaning led to the verb form advocate, as well as advocacy, to describe the work of an advocate. "The lunchroom staff were advocates for healthier school lunches; their advocacy was supported by parents and the school board; however, the students were reluctant to give up their cookies and chips."
Vocabulary lists containing advocacy
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Leadership Vocabulary
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
I Am Malala
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The business advocacy group that ran the campaign also denied that AI was used.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
However, roughly 40% of Americans wouldn’t qualify for most private student loans based on credit-score and income requirements alone, according to an analysis from the advocacy group Protect Borrowers.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Family-controlled businesses, whether public or private, employ 59% of the U.S. workforce, excluding federal employees, and generate 54% of U.S. gross domestic product, according to 2021 data from Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Family Enterprise USA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Ethiopian nationals who had sued to preserve TPS and the advocacy group African Communities Together expressed disappointment, saying the ruling created fresh dangers.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Smuggled-out information that we were on a hunger strike would elicit newspaper stories, which in turn would generate pressure from advocacy groups.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Her advocacies center on defending human rights and empowering the poor partly by teaching them their legal rights.
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2022
"She's someone that they can really look up look up to with her advocacies and how she carries herself - she really encapsulates that ethos of inclusivity."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2021
Nine other organizations, including the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter, gay rights groups and immigrant advocacies, supported the complaint.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 26, 2016
If nobody compromises, then the result is multiple pure advocacies that result in nothing.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2015
Go to the bottom of all those clever advocacies for unity of Church and State, and you will meet, as their primus motor, the worm of comfort and human inertia.
From The Agony of the Church (1917) by Nikolai Velimirović
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.
