propagandize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to subject to propaganda.
The Foreign Affairs department developed a plan to propagandize enemy countries.
-
to propagate or publicize (principles, dogma, etc.) by means of propaganda.
The newspaper was accused of propagandizing state-approved stories rather than providing factual coverage.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to spread by propaganda
-
(tr) to subject to propaganda
-
(intr) to spread or organize propaganda
Etymology
Origin of propagandize
First recorded in 1835–45; propagand(a) + -ize
Explanation
To propagandize is to spread biased information that supports a particular political viewpoint. Most governments have been known to propagandize in an attempt to influence the perception (and behavior) of their citizens. A government might propagandize at the start of a war to rally support, and political protesters may propagandize to raise awareness of an issue or inspire others to get involved with their cause. Corporations sometimes propagandize to influence buyers and investors. These groups could print posters and flyers or run radio and TV ads spreading their message. The earliest so-called propagandizing was done by eighteenth century Catholic cardinals whose mission was to "propagate the faith."
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:
“Everywhere you look, there’s branding and advertising. It has the secondary or tertiary effect of causing people to then want to act out and propagandize themselves.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2025
This made it easier for businesses and social critics to propagandize against fatness because, simply put, the existence of more fat people opened up potentially lucrative opportunities for doing so.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2022
Xi is ready, as expected, to propagandize China’s greatness.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2022
“They do not have the right to propagandize their hideousness.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2018
The British War Office was, too, and made the most of the story to propagandize its tired veterans and its late-drafted youths who had been denied part in war by the sudden Armistice.
From The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919 by Jahns, Lewis E.
I think it is because we as a species yearn for that connection as much as we have been whipped up into tribalism and propagandized into tribalism.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2025
John Stuart Mill’s official defense of the East India Company propagandized such “improvements,” setting a trend for annual government reports on “Moral and Material Progress” in India, which were assembled without consulting Indians.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2022
In gorgeous, silvery black-and-white, it’s a rather lovely picture of bravery, and not much different from the propagandized images coming out of Hollywood.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 29, 2017
He said the building had become propagandized and not integrated into the life of the city.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2012
The Bell service ethos worked, and was often propagandized, in a rather saccharine fashion.
From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Sterling, Bruce
Admittedly, I, like any proud Nittany Lion, had been gently propagandizing this notion to my son ever since he could talk.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2023
Because it provides both centralization and some degree of anonymity, the Telegram channel format lends itself to the interdependent activities of propagandizing and profiteering.
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2022
There is no propagandizing this playing field ostracism, no explaining away the sports world’s recoil from him.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 28, 2022
And paintings now could be copied and sent throughout Italy and Europe, propagandizing for Cosimo I, the Medici and Florence all at once.
From New York Times ● Jun. 24, 2021
They found themselves organizing, propagandizing, podium-pounding, persuading, touring, negotiating, posing for publicity photos, submitting to interviews, squinting in the limelight as they tried a tentative, but growingly sophisticated, buck-and-wing upon the public stage.
From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Sterling, Bruce
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.
