Astroturfing
noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The disguising of an orchestrated campaign as a "grass-roots" event, i.e., a spontaneous upwelling of public opinion. uncountable
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of Astroturf form-of, gerund, participle, present
Example
More examples"A number of purported grassroots movements are really astroturfing campaigns by the ultra-wealthy."
Etymology
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."
Related phrases
More for "astroturfing"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.