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

Instead, at the end of the day, as the world spins out of control, people want bread and circuses to keep them from contemplating the horrors that we ourselves have created.

From Salon • Nov. 2, 2023

But you are certainly not the only person who, when blessed with a larger paycheck, chooses not to spend it all on high-end bread and circuses.

From Slate • Jul. 7, 2021

“Nobody Speak” is a chilling, essential primer in how we got here and where we’re going if bread and circuses continue to win the news cycle.

From Washington Post • Jun. 22, 2017

Empires have been made possible by "bread and circuses"; by appealing to an abnormally developed sense of patriotism; by the rule of might where largess and cajolery have failed.

From The American Empire by Nearing, Scott