Meaning & use
pander
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Meaning
verbintransitivedisapproving
To give people what they want in a base way to gain approval, money, or advantage.
Grammar: No direct object; it is regularly followed by to: pander to fears, not pander fears.
Patterns
- pander to someone
- pander to prejudices
- pander to fears
- pander to the crowd
The ad panders to fear rather than informing buyers.
Do not pander to cruelty for a quick laugh.
Critics say the show panders to tired stereotypes.
Word forms
| third person singular | panders |
|---|---|
| past tense | pandered |
| past participle | pandered |
| -ing form | pandering |
Common combinations
- pander to fears
- The campaign was accused of pandering to fears.
- pander to prejudice
- A serious paper should not pander to prejudice.
- pander to the crowd
- The singer refused to pander to the crowd.
- pander to public taste
- Some studios pander to public taste instead of taking risks.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: pander or cater? pander or ponder?
pander vs cater
Cater often means provide food or meet needs and can be neutral; pander is negative and implies base appeal.
pander vs ponder
Ponder means think carefully; the similar spelling can confuse learners.
Practice
Respectful leaders inform voters; cynical ones ___ prejudices to win applause.
Choose one answer.
Pander to is the disapproving pattern for exploiting prejudice, and it correctly takes to. Cater is less negative and would still need to here, while answer and supply do not fit the object prejudices in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pander”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.