- Today's Word
Demagogue
DEM-uh-gawg
Definition
- (noun) A leader who gains power by appealing to emotions, prejudices, or popular desires rather than reason or logic.
Example
The politician’s speeches, filled with fear-mongering and empty promises, revealed him as a demagogue.
Fun Fact
“Demagogue” comes from the Greek dēmagōgos, meaning “leader of the people.” While it once referred to positive leaders, the word now carries a negative connotation, describing figures who manipulate public emotions for personal gain. History is full of such figures, making “demagogue” a powerful term in political discourse.
(noun) A complicated and confusing situation that is extremely difficult to escape or make progress through.
What began as a simple contract dispute had become a morass of litigation, counter-claims, and procedural delays that no one involved could see the end of.
Morass derives from the Dutch moeras, meaning “marsh” or “swamp,” itself from the Old French marais — “marsh.” It entered English in the 17th century with its literal meaning of boggy, waterlogged ground before quickly acquiring its figurative sense of any situation that traps and exhausts in the same way a physical swamp does — something that looks passable until you’re already in it and discovering that every step forward costs more than the last.