fearmongering

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of fearmonger

plural fearmongerings

1. uncountableusuallyThe act of spreading needless fear; exaggerating purported threats in order to incite fear.

   But the ongoing dip they describe is far more modest than people fearmongering about a T crisis make it out to be, and likely due to lifestyle factors like sedentariness and environmental pollutants messing with our bodies.

   2023 April 5, Mark Hay, “Does Testosterone Affect Your Politics?”, in VICE

   1 more example

   Recent polling shows it’s the second most important issue among Americans. But a big reason for that is the relentless, bad-faith fearmongering around the issue by the Republican party themselves, perhaps best summed up by the startling growth this year of the toxic phrase ‘migrant crime’.

   2024, John Oliver, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 11, episode 17

   Synonyms: alarmism, scaremongering