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

Maddie believes speaking openly about baby loss can still be a "taboo" and that those who do could be considered to be "scaremongering".

From BBC • Dec. 23, 2025

"But no-one I've met through social media talking about baby loss has felt like it's scaremongering - it's felt informative, because sometimes you could help someone else realise some signs," she said.

From BBC • Dec. 23, 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

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)