Fear mongering (or scaremongering or scare tactics) is the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end. The feared object or subject is sometimes exaggerated, and the pattern of fear mongering is usually one of repetition, in order to continuously reinforce the intended effects of this tactic, sometimes in the form of a vicious circle.
Famous quotes containing the word fear:
“They are free, but not entirely free. For Law is despot over them, and they fear him much more than your men fear you.”
—Herodotus (c. 484–424 B.C.)