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Synonyms

scaremonger

American  
[skair-mong-ger, -muhng-] / ˈskɛərˌmɒŋ gər, -ˌmʌŋ- /

noun

  1. a person who creates or spreads alarming news.


scaremonger British  
/ ˈskɛəˌmʌŋɡə /

noun

  1. a person who delights in spreading rumours of disaster

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of scaremonger

First recorded in 1885–90; scare + monger

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:

For this he was treated as a scaremonger, even a crank.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 7, 2022

He’s not an orthodox scaremonger, sending his camera gliding down dark hallways in search of the usual ghouls.

From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2018

I’m not making this speech because I want to moralise or scaremonger, but because I feel profoundly as a politician, and as a father, that the time for action has come.

From BusinessWeek ● Jul. 22, 2013

"It's very difficult to say any of this without sounding like rather a scaremonger, or someone addicted to worst case analysis," said Paul Cornish, professor of international politics at the University of Bath.

From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2011

The colossal egotism of the notorious criminal, however, provides him with a conclusion oleaginous enough for a scaremonger of our own day, with a confusion of summject and ommject very much after his heart.

From In a Green Shade A Country Commentary by Maurice Henry Hewlett

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