scaremongering

American  

[skair-mahng-ger-ing] / ˈskɛərˌmɑŋ gər ɪŋ /

noun

1. the practice or strategy of scaring or alarming people as a means of manipulating them; fearmongering.

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adjective

1. scaring or alarming people as a means of manipulating them; fearmongering.

Example Sentences

Letters sent to homeowners in Sheffield threatening High Court legal action after a solicitor bought the freehold for their houses have been described by recipients as "scaremongering" and "aggressive".

From BBC • Dec. 17, 2025

And while safety is at the core of such decisions, we should be cautious of scaremongering, says UniSA shark expert Dr Brianna Le Busque.

From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2023

Nevertheless, “Tech Won’t Save Us” is neither doom-laden nor scaremongering, presenting potential solutions alongside its analysis of what’s not working.

From New York Times • Jun. 3, 2023

In aggregate, spates of space-weather scaremongering are easy to predict because they’re usually tied to solar activity itself, which follows a roughly 11-year cycle.

From Scientific American • Jan. 26, 2023

But Mr. Punch, with many others, has no sympathy to spare for the sorrows of the headline artist deprived for the time being of his chief opportunity of scaremongering.

From Mr. Punch's History of the Great War by Graves, Charles L. (Charles Larcom)