pandering

American  

[pan-der-ing] / ˈpæn dər ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of catering to or profiting from the weaknesses, vices, or unreasonable desires of others.

   Pandering and fear-mongering are the main ingredients of his appeal to anxious voters.

2. the act or practice of furnishing clients for a prostitute or supplying persons for illicit sex acts.

   Human trafficking violates many other laws as well, including those against kidnapping, slavery, false imprisonment, and pandering.

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adjective

1. catering to or profiting from the weaknesses, vices, or unreasonable desires of others.

   He’s the epitome of the pandering politician, ready to say yes to everyone.

Other Word Forms

• panderingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of pandering

First recorded in 1600–10; pander + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun senses; pander + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective sense

Example Sentences

She'd grown weary of pandering to pop tropes of the "strong, independent female"; and wanted to present a "more honest and vulnerable" version of herself.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

But it strikes a false and pandering note, since Tartuffe, as in Molière, has been plainly exposed as an opportunistic, lascivious fraud—and the only one in the play.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025

Left to her own devices by a pandering script, she alone draws the line where loneliness ends and freedom begins, keeping “Die My Love” from plunging completely into its self-made inferno.

From Salon • Nov. 7, 2025

To Didion, Kennedy represented something insidious in the American character: the desire for voters to admire politicians like movie stars, and the pandering of American politicians to provide heroes made of clay.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2025

We’d been taught that worrying about inmates’ concerns was tantamount to pandering, that it almost demeaned an officer.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover