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

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

“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

Those who to-day bear the brunt of our evils dare not throw themselves upon the mercy of their masters, not though there are bread and circuses as a reward.

From A Preface to Politics by Lippmann, Walter