rabble-rouser

American  

[rab-uhl-rou-zer] / ˈræb əlˌraʊ zər /

noun

1. a person who stirs up the passions or prejudices of the public, usually for self-interested reasons; demagogue.

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rabble-rouser British  

noun

1. a person who manipulates the passions of the mob; demagogue

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Other Word Forms

• rabble-rousing
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of rabble-rouser

First recorded in 1835–45

Explanation

A politician who deliberately tries to get her audience excited and angry can be described as a rabble-rouser. There's a fine line between a rabble-rouser and a great public speaker. A rabble-rouser's highest priority is getting people worked up, especially by appealing to their prejudices and ignorance, with the ultimate goal of his own political support. It's a nineteenth century phrase that combines rouse, or "stir up," with rabble, which originally meant "a pack of animals," and later came to also mean "an unruly mob of people."