slogan

noun

slo·​gan ˈslō-gən How to pronounce slogan (audio)
1
a
: a war cry especially of a Scottish clan
b
: a word or phrase used to express a characteristic position or stand or a goal to be achieved
2
: a brief attention-getting phrase used in advertising or promotion

Examples of slogan in a Sentence

within days, virtually everyone was familiar with the newest advertising slogan for that brand of soda
Recent Examples on the Web This made my blood boil, particularly in today’s climate, as there are so many groups targeted with hateful, inflammatory slogans. Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2024 Anti-Israel protesters near Columbia University were heard shouting pro-Hamas slogans this week as demonstrations geared up at the private campus. Brie Stimson, Fox News, 19 Apr. 2024 Being tough on crime wasn't just a campaign slogan for Hill. Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Apr. 2024 Connecticut women, like the 25-year-old schoolteacher Kezia Peck, traveled great distances to attend Wide Awake rallies, hollering slogans and waving handkerchiefs. Jon Grinspan, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024 Alex Kent / Getty Images More than 100 people crowded outside Radio City Music Hall with Palestinian flags and signs with antiwar slogans. Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 29 Mar. 2024 The next day, just after sunset at a monument known as Salvador del Mundo, situated in a trafficked roundabout in the capital, some seventy feminist protesters stood with banners, chanting slogans about electoral fraud and Fascism. Danielle MacKey, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024 The line quickly became a feminist slogan and is used more broadly today. Hadley Heath Manning, National Review, 31 Mar. 2024 Use it for slogans, taglines, and when highlighting key benefits to create marketing content that lingers in the minds of readers. 5. Renae Gregoire, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slogan.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier slogorn, from Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, from sluagh army, host + gairm cry

First Known Use

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of slogan was in 1513

Dictionary Entries Near slogan

Cite this Entry

“Slogan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slogan. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

slogan

noun
slo·​gan ˈslō-gən How to pronounce slogan (audio)
1
: a word or phrase that calls to battle
2
: a word or phrase used by a party, a group, or a business to attract attention
Etymology

from earlier slogorn "war cry, rallying cry," from Scottish Gaelic, the ancient language of Scotland, sluagh-gairm "army cry," from sluagh "army" and ghairm "call, cry"

Word Origin
The clans of Scotland were groups of related families that joined together, especially to defend against outsiders. In the old days these outsiders might be other clans, but usually they were the English to the south. When it was time to gather members of the clan for a battle, the Scots would shout the sluagh-gairm, which meant "army cry." It is made up of the Scottish Gaelic word sluagh, meaning "army," and ghairm, meaning "call, cry." This came into English as slogorn and later became slogan. At first slogan meant a "battle cry" or "rallying cry." Later it came to be used for "a motto or phrase used by a group to attract attention."

More from Merriam-Webster on slogan

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