pander
[pan-der]
- a person who furnishes clients for a prostitute or supplies persons for illicit sexual intercourse; procurer; pimp.
- a person who caters to or profits from the weaknesses or vices of others.
- a go-between in amorous intrigues.
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- to act as a pander; cater basely: to pander to the vile tastes of vulgar persons.
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- to act as a pander for.
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Origin of pander
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pandering
Contemporary Examples
How does one support gender equality without coming across as disingenuous or, even worse, as pandering?
By pandering for the laziest voters Colorado actually compounds the problem.
Still, conservatives argue that Obama is pandering to women voters by using an intentionally deceptive statistic.
He was accused of the worst kind of pandering, not for the first time.
Cultural conservatives will put up with a certain amount of pandering to more modern mores with a nudge and a wink.
Historical Examples
What a sorry state of servitude for a virtue—to be pandering to sensual pleasure!
De OfficiisMarcus Tullius Cicero
He did not seek for gain by pandering to the thoughtless, ignorant or base.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 12 (of 12)Robert G. Ingersoll
Do not suppose that I am pandering to what is commonly understood by national pride.
Science and EducationThomas H. Huxley
How could he with a pandering smugness meet Fanny's purity of feeling?
CythereaJoseph Hergesheimer
He has never sought advancement by flattery or pandering to prejudice.
pander
- (intr foll by to) to give gratification (to weaknesses or desires)
- (archaic when tr) to act as a go-between in a sexual intrigue (for)
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- a person who caters for vulgar desires, esp in order to make money
- a person who procures a sexual partner for another; pimp
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Word Origin
C16 (n): from Pandare Pandarus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for pandering
pander
n.
"arranger of sexual liaisons, one who supplies another with the means of gratifying lust," 1520s, "procurer, pimp," from Middle English Pandare (late 14c.), used by Chaucer ("Troylus and Cryseyde"), who borrowed it from Boccaccio (who had it in Italian form Pandaro in "Filostrato") as name of the prince (Greek Pandaros), who procured the love of Cressida (his niece in Chaucer, his cousin in Boccaccio) for Troilus. The story and the name are medieval inventions. Spelling influenced by agent suffix -er.
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pander
v.
"to indulge (another), to minister to base passions," c.1600, from pander (n.). Related: Pandered; pandering.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Pander
(pän′dər)Christian Heinrich 1794-1865- Russian-born German anatomist and pioneer embryologist. With Karl Ernst von Baer he discovered the distinct structural layers of the chick embryo.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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