rabble-rouser, n.
Frequency (in current use):
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Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: rabble n.1, rouser n.
1. A person who speaks with the intention of inflaming the emotions of the populace or a crowd of people, typically for political reasons; an agitator; (more generally) a troublemaker; an unruly person.
1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. xxii. 211
Nothing surpasses the munificent promises..of a genuine rabblerouser, just before an election.
1926 Evening Standard 12 July 3/2
You need not be a Tammany politician to know the meaning of boodle, gerrymander, carpet-bagger, wirepuller, rabble-rouser.
1959 ‘M. M. Kaye’ House of Shade xiv. 190
The murder of a rabble-rouser would probably be considered as of little account.
1965 Punch 13 Jan. 55/1
Hitler the rabble-rouser, Hitler the mob-orator.
1990 Hit Parader July 46/3
As the band's notoriety has grown, so has their reputation for being rabble rousers.
1996 M. Kingwell Dreams Millennium vii. 307
The popularity of anti-Washington sentiment is growing, expressed in unnerving incivility by talk-radio rabble-rousers.
1843—1996(Hide quotations)
2. A piece of music that excites an audience; a tune or song that appeals to the masses.
[1947 Music Educators Jrnl. 33 52/3
(advt.)
New March by Horace E. Mitchell. Arranged for full band by Cliff Barnes. Writers of Marches:..Banner Victorious (new), Rabble Rouser (novelty).]
1958 New Statesman 1 Feb. 133/3
The symphony ends with a noisy finale which seemed no more than an unusually prolonged rabble-rouser.
1965 G. Melly Owning-up iv. 38
They chose their fastest, loudest numbers, ‘rabble rousers’ was the trade name, in the hope of making some impact on the audience.
2003 S. Brown Free Gift Inside! 67
The program ranged from..reliable rabble-rousers like Rossini's William Tell Overture to the solemnity of A Hymn of Peace, written for the occasion.
1958—2003(Hide quotations)
