verb / noun
pander
PAN-der/pˈændɝ/
Catering to others’ harmful desires or prejudices for personal gain.
The artist panders to the crowd’s cruelty to win their applause.
Etymology
Pandare arranges the love affair of Troilus and Cressida, so his name became a word for a procurer. The resulting verb broadened to indulging another person's base desires or prejudices for selfish ends.
In context
trying to pander to moderate Democrats and try to win over centrist Democrats
More examples
- The candidate panders to racial prejudice to win votes.
- The newspaper pandered to readers’ hatred of immigrants to boost sales.
- She refuses to advance her career by pandering to her boss’s sexism.
Forms
pander · panders · pandered · pandering
panderer noun — Someone who serves others’ harmful desires for gain.