demagogue
/ˈdɛməɡɑɡ/noun, verb
demagogue is spelled D-E-M-A-G-O-G-U-E. The wrong spelling people search most is demogogue: about 90 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 19 of all searches for the word. Demagogue is a derogatory noun meaning “A political orator or leader, especially in a democratic system, who gains favor by pandering to or exciting…”. The plural of demagogue is demagogues.
How many letters and syllables are in demagogue?
| Letters | 9: D-E-M-A-G-O-G-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,192nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, demogogue, about 90 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell demagogue?
Demagogue is spelled D-E-M-A-G-O-G-U-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 19 of the searches for demagogue in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is demagogue?
Demagogue appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd 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).
How do you pronounce demagogue?
- US /ˈdɛməɡɑɡ/
- US /ˈdɛməɡɔɡ/
- UK /ˈdɛməɡɒɡ/
Demagogue has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-demagogue.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of demagogue
- demagogues plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- demagog US
- demagoguing participle, present
- demagogued participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does demagogue mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
derogatoryA political orator or leader, especially in a democratic system, who gains favor by pandering to or exciting the passions and prejudices of the audience rather than by using rational argument.
- 2
A leader of the people.
verb
- 1
To speak or act in the manner of a demagogue; to speak about (an issue) in the manner of a demagogue.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Demagogue in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 demagogue come from?
From Middle French démagogue, from Ancient Greek δημαγωγός (dēmagōgós, “popular leader, mob leader”), from δῆμος (dêmos, “people”) + ἀγωγός (agōgós, “guide”). By surface analysis, dem- + -agogue.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).