pseudo-event
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of pseudo-event
An Americanism dating back to 1960–65
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.
Charlottesville has long since come to betray all the cynicism of a pseudo-event.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Sixty years ago, Daniel J. Boorstin, a historian who became the Librarian of Congress, came up with a term: the "pseudo-event."
From Fox News ● Aug. 1, 2021
They had wasted no time in moving on to the next pseudo-event, this one in New Hampshire.
From Salon ● Feb. 29, 2020
Every pseudo-event “becomes all the more interesting with our every effort to debunk it.”
From Seattle Times ● May 27, 2018
"Boorstin described public-opinion research as 'a kind of pseudo-event, forced into existence for the primary purpose of being reported.'"
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2018
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.
