“Demagoguery, Demagogy, Demagogism (noun): The practices or language of a leader who, avid for power, appeals to popular emotions and prejudices and makes false claims and promises; impassioned duplicitous cant; opportunistic rhetoric. Adjective: demagogic, demagogical; adverb: demagogically; noun: demagogue, demagog.
‘Since obsessions dragoon our energy by endless repetitive contemplations of guild we can neither measure nor forget, political power of the most frightening sort was obviously waiting for the first demagogue who would smash the obsession and free the white man of his guilt. Norman Mailer, Miami and the Siege of Chicago.'”
Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.
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