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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I Am Malala
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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:
He puts Caravaggio, for example, in the “cultural changes” bin, but the painter’s reappraisal was driven by personal advocacy by, among others, the Gilded Age art advisor Bernard Berenson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The hearing had not previously been made public, and RSF advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakowska called the development "scandalous".
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The report by Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit advocacy group, shows that four water utilities in California rank among the top 10 most expensive in the United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Lawrence began local advocacy for affordable housing through the Michigan Rent Is Too Damn High Coalition, a tenant union he founded in 2023.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 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
But certain topics, and certain advocacies, had dropped out of their conversation—not by Daphne's will.
From Marriage à la mode by Mrs. Humphry Ward
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
