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

“The experience of being Arab and Muslim has been to be the object of hate by one party and the subject of pandering by another. Both of them are alienating,” he said.

From Slate • Apr. 29, 2026

First, good on Mazzulla to straight-up treat the kid as the reporter he clearly is, and answer the question directly, without pandering or turning it into some sort of saccharine after-school special.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 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

Neither play is beyond pandering to its audience for an easy laugh.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025

She was worried, worried that I would think less of her for pandering to the whimsy of some paranoid lordling.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss