astroturfing
noun
astroturfing is spelled A-S-T-R-O-T-U-R-F-I-N-G: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 139,999th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, astroturfing means “The disguising of an orchestrated campaign as a "grass-roots" event, i.e., a spontaneous upwelling of public opinion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in astroturfing?
| Letters | 12: A-S-T-R-O-T-U-R-F-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 21 million words; the 139,999th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is astroturfing?
Astroturfing appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 139,999th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
What does astroturfing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The disguising of an orchestrated campaign as a "grass-roots" event, i.e., a spontaneous upwelling of public opinion.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of Astroturf
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Astroturfing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense disguising of an orchestrated campaign:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | astroturfing |
| German | Vortäuschen einer Basisbewegung, Tarnung einer Kampagne als Volksbewegung |
| Portuguese | astroturfing |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does astroturfing come from?
From AstroTurf (“a synthetic substitute for grass”), a play on grass roots, as in “fake grass roots”. Attributed to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen in an unidentified 1985 public statement: "[A] fellow from Texas can tell the difference between grassroots and Astroturf."
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).