whispering campaign

noun

: the systematic dissemination by word of mouth of derogatory rumors or charges especially against a candidate for public office

Examples of whispering campaign in a Sentence

He was the target of a whispering campaign started by his political rivals.
Recent Examples on the Web Karl Rove reportedly inspired a similar whispering campaign during an Alabama judicial campaign back in the 1990s. Joel Mathis, The Week, 4 Apr. 2022 Lingering physical effects from five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam added to concerns about his health, and his staff viewed full transparency as the best response to a whisper campaign about his mental health. Matt Viser, Anchorage Daily News, 24 Feb. 2020 The eatery is doing a fun whisper campaign this year: The restaurant will post a secret word on Instagram and Facebook, and anyone who mentions the secret word to a server will get a $2 Rita de Casa. Audrey Eads, Dallas News, 14 Feb. 2020 Smear sheets and whisper campaigns targeted Brewer, a moderate on racial issues. Mike Cason | McAson@al.com, al, 4 Dec. 2019 Finally, Tom called Karishma’s last-minute whisper campaign at Tribal Council a big act. Dalton Ross, EW.com, 10 Oct. 2019 In the company’s version of events, an unspecified person on the communications team hired Definers Public Affairs to monitor press about the company, help with product announcements, and carry out the odd whisper campaign against prominent enemies. Casey Newton, The Verge, 17 Nov. 2018 These are the political tactics that people use, and in the past there's evidence these whisper campaigns have been successful. NBC News, 4 Mar. 2018 At the same time, a whisper campaign against him started to get louder. Philip Elliott, Time, 1 June 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whispering campaign.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of whispering campaign was in 1920

Dictionary Entries Near whispering campaign

Cite this Entry

“Whispering campaign.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whispering%20campaign. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!