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
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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:
Driscoll, who is also a member of Patriotic Millionaires, an advocacy group of high-net-worth individuals focused on the country’s economy, said fixing Social Security is an obligation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
They say they left after growing disillusioned with the company’s oil-and-gas work, and now run a climate advocacy group that pushes to limit the use of AI in growing oil-and-gas production.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Shortly after the decision, advocacy group The Information Rights Project released a statement on McBride's behalf, according to national broadcaster ABC.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
In 1997, Bycel was appointed president of the University of West Los Angeles, and in 2001 he moved to Washington to serve as the vice president of Common Cause, the national advocacy group.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The Tucson Daily Star reports on Joey’s accomplishments in the Philippines—not just the war effort, but her advocacy on behalf of the “leper colonies” there.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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
For we are vexed with ourselves when we give, and ashamed when we perjure ourselves, and get ill-fame from our advocacies, and are put to the blush, when we cannot fulfil our promises.
From Plutarch's Morals by Arthur Richard Shilleto
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.
