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There is an obvious connection, on the declining Roman empire's bread and circuses model, between political enthusiasm for public spectacles and the periods when we are least able to pay for them.
Iain Sinclair

Meaning of "bread and circuses" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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PRONUNCIATION OF BREAD AND CIRCUSES

bread and circuses play
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WHAT DOES BREAD AND CIRCUSES MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Bread and circuses

"Bread and circuses" is metonymic for a superficial means of appeasement. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the creation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through diversion; distraction; or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace, as an offered "palliative." Juvenal decried it as a simplistic motivation of common people. The phrase also implies the erosion or ignorance of civic duty amongst the concerns of the commoner.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE BREAD AND CIRCUSES

bread
bread and butter
bread and honey
bread basket
bread mould
bread poultice
bread pudding
bread roll
bread sauce
bread shop
bread-and-butter
bread-and-butter letter
bread-and-butter pudding
breadbasket
breadberry
breadbin
breadboard
breadbox
breadcrumb
breaded

WORDS THAT END LIKE BREAD AND CIRCUSES

anacruses
analyses
bases
classes
courses
dieses
exercises
expenses
galluses
glasses
horses
human rights abuses
hyperacuses
losses
natural causes
presbyacuses
presbycouses
presbycuses
safe as houses
sunglasses

Synonyms and antonyms of bread and circuses in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «bread and circuses» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF BREAD AND CIRCUSES

Find out the translation of bread and circuses to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of bread and circuses from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «bread and circuses» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

面包和马戏
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

pan y circo
570 millions of speakers

English

bread and circuses
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

रोटी और सर्कस
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

الخبز والسيرك
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

хлеба и зрелищ
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

pão e circo
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

রুটি এবং সার্কাস
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

pain et des jeux
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Roti dan sarkas
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Brot und Spiele
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

パンとサーカス
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

빵과 서커스
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Roti lan sirkus
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

bánh mì và rạp xiếc
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

ரொட்டி மற்றும் சர்க்கஸ்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

ब्रेड आणि सर्कस
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Ekmek ve sirkler
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

panem et circenses
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

chleba i igrzysk
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

хліба і видовищ
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

pâine și circ
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

άρτος και θεάματα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

brood en sirkusse
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

bröd och skådespel
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

brød og sirkus
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of bread and circuses

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «BREAD AND CIRCUSES»

The term «bread and circuses» is regularly used and occupies the 83.803 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
61
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «bread and circuses» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of bread and circuses
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «bread and circuses».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «BREAD AND CIRCUSES» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «bread and circuses» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «bread and circuses» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about bread and circuses

EXAMPLES

QUOTES WITH «BREAD AND CIRCUSES»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word bread and circuses.
1
Iain Sinclair
There is an obvious connection, on the declining Roman empire's bread and circuses model, between political enthusiasm for public spectacles and the periods when we are least able to pay for them.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «BREAD AND CIRCUSES»

Discover the use of bread and circuses in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to bread and circuses and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
London: Bread and Circuses
Explores London s Millennial follies and asks how and where London might now channel its energies.
Jonathan Glancey, 2003
2
'Bread and Circuses': Euergetism and Municipal Patronage in ...
John R. Patterson Providing 'bread and circuses' (Juv. Sat. 10.77–81) for the inhabitants of Rome was a major concern of Roman emperors. 'The emperor did not neglect even actors and the other performers ... knowing as he did that the ...
Tim Cornell, Dr Kathryn Lomas, 2005
3
Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome
Describes the events and games held in the amphitheaters, cicuses, and theaters in ancient Rome.
Eckart Köhne, Cornelia Ewigleben, Ralph Jackson, 2000
4
Of Bread and Circuses: the Story of Bountygate and the 2012 ...
Of Bread and Circuses: The Story of Bountygate and the 2012 New Orleans Saints (OBAC) chronicles the New Orleans Saints' 2012 calendar year, and examines the events of Bountygate in detail.
Reid Gilbert, 2013
5
Bread and Circuses
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.
Helen Parry Eden, 2010
6
Juvenal: Satires
This volume presents a new commentary on the first book of satires of the Roman satirist Juvenal.
Juvenal, Susanna Morton Braund, 1996
7
Fifty Key Classical Authors
Wallace-Madrid, A., Suetonius: The Scholar and His Caesars, London: Duckworth, 1983. JUVENAL 'Bread and circuses': that's all the common people want. The much- quoted phrase was coined by the Roman satirist Juvenal (Satire 10.81).
Alison Sharrock, Rhiannon Ash, 2002
8
Reading Football: How the Popular Press Created an American ...
Historians of the concept "mass culture" have variously traced it to the bread and circuses of ancient Rome, to the rise of the middle class in eighteenth-century England, or to such nineteenth -century writers as Tocqueville, Matthew Arnold, ...
Michael Oriard, 1998
9
Sugar and Spice... Exploring Food and Drink Idioms in English
Used to refer to 'something offered as a means of distracting attention from a problem or grievance', the idiom BREAD AND CIRCUSES in this passage undergoes permutation and a conjunction variation in order to pass a slightly novel ...
Laura Pinnavaia, 2010
10
Political Psychology
Bread and Circuses, dazzling in both its entirety and its details, offers at least four viewpoints to the reader. First - and this is its explicit subject - it is a history of euergetism, a form of patronage that was regularly practiced by notables, senators, ...
Jon Elster, 1993

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «BREAD AND CIRCUSES»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term bread and circuses is used in the context of the following news items.
1
The land of 'bread and circuses'
After most of what now is England was pacified by Roman conquerers, many of the region's inhabitants were happy to settle in as subjects of ... «Martinsburg Journal, Jul 15»
2
Greece votes 'No.' Grexit, 'Plan Z' to follow?
It's all a result of an increasingly complaisant public feasting on taxpayer-supported bread and circuses that produce nothing, save fatter and ... «Communities Digital News, Jul 15»
3
Cherish freedom not even death can take away | Church Corner
... life (the bread and circuses) combined with the concentration of wealth and influence into a smaller portion of the population that resulted in a ... «Enumclaw Courier-Herald, Jul 15»
4
Obama Tells Another 'Whopper' — He Did Not Create 12.8 Million …
I call this the “bread and circuses economy,” but it has two problems. Most of these slots generate only about 26 hours per week and $14 per ... «Newsmax, Jul 15»
5
How Goldwater and Reagan Responded to Defeat
... themselves: Has America reached the point when we have become like ancient Rome in its final days, all bread and circuses, that we cannot ... «Daily Signal, Jul 15»
6
Spain's wealthy class on the rise
As for a small percentage of Europe's population getting richer yes quite true and they have used the time tested Roman 'bread and circuses' to ... «Olive Press, Jun 15»
7
The Farmer's Market on Zanja Ave., Havana
This fair is indeed like the Roman “bread and circuses”, a taste of the countryside in the city. This past Saturday afternoon, I decided to take a ... «Havana Times, Jun 15»
8
Amid Canada Day fireworks, pause to reflect
... go ahead and love and fried pickles and the mini-doughnuts and the street parties, because everyone needs bread and circuses sometimes. «Winnipeg Free Press, Jun 15»
9
Key decisions in Dallemand arbitration case coming soon
... why the proceedings should be closed. He opened his brief by quoting Julius Caesar, writing, “Give the people bread and circuses and they ... «Macon Telegraph, Jun 15»
10
After SCOTUS: Welcoming Apocalypse
... a civil order can be maintained by a mere consensus of a majority goaded and guided by bread and circuses and screaming talking heads. «A Magazine of American Culture, Jun 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Bread and circuses [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/bread-and-circuses>. Apr 2024 ».
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