bread and circuses

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They’re capitalist endeavors, not charity cases, whose stated mission is to provide bread and circuses to the masses while making as much profit as possible in the process.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2025

Then again, it's pretty easy to pull off this feat in a society sated only by bread and circuses.

From Salon • Jan. 11, 2023

We might ask our governments to aim for more than mere bread and circuses, though.

From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2022

At the very beginning of the presentation, Zuckerberg attempted to assure viewers that all this metaverse talk wasn’t just bread and circuses, referencing “all the scrutiny and public debate” currently swirling around his company.

From Slate • Oct. 28, 2021

It required a great deal of money to support the luxurious court of the emperors and their innumerable officials and servants, and to supply "bread and circuses" for the populace of the towns.

From An Introduction to the History of Western Europe by Robinson, James Harvey