pander

Syllables: pan·derUK/ˈpændə/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈpandə/

pander noun: a person who furthers the illicit love-affairs of others; a pimp or procurer.

Noun

pander (plural panders)

A person who furthers the illicit love-affairs of others; a pimp or procurer.
- […] if ever you prove false one, to another since I have taken such paine to bring you together let all pittifull goers betweene be cald to the worlds end after my name, call them all Panders, let all constant men be Troylusses all false woemen Cressids, and all brokers betweene panders1609, Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act 3
- It was not only the brilliant phalanx of virtuous dowagers, generals and academicians with whom he was most intimately associated that Swann so cynically compelled to serve him as panders.1992, Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright, translating Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way, Folio Society 2005, p. 190
Synonyms:

panderer, abbot, bludger, bully, cock-bawd, dalaal, fishmonger, flashman, fleshmonger, hoon
An offer of illicit sex with a third party.
An illicit or illegal offer, usually to tempt.
(broadly) One who ministers to the evil designs and passions of another.
- Camillo was his helpe in this, his Pandar:
  There is a Plot against my Life, my Crowne;
  All's true that is mistrusted: that false Villaine,
  Whom I employ'd, was pre-emplot'dc. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Those wicked panders to avarice and ambition.1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles]...

Verb

pander (third-person singular simple present panders, present participle pandering, simple past and past participle pandered)

(intransitive) To tempt with, to appeal or cater to (improper motivations, etc.); to assist in gratification.
- His latest speech panders to the worst instincts of the electorate.
- [...] both the Conservatives and Labour are guilty of pandering to the road lobby at the time of Beeching's The Reshaping of Britain's Railways report published in 1963.2020 July 29, Howard Johnston, “Reversing Beeching: just how serious is the DfT?”, in Rail, page 30
Synonyms:

pamper
(transitive) To offer (something or someone) in order to tempt or appeal, especially to base or improper motivations.
- Who knows what Brill really thought? But he pandered the rumor linking Spear to a whole string of dastardly deeds.1980 April 19, Mitzel, “Barbre Murder Grand Jury: Puccini Outtake”, in Gay Community News, page 1
(intransitive) To offer illicit sex with a third party; to pimp.

Synonyms:

prostitute
(obsolete, transitive) To act as a pander for (somebody).

pander meaning in Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

pander in Malayalam

ദുഷ്പ്രവൃത്തികൾക്കു സഹായിക്കുക, പെണ്ണുങ്ങളുടെ പക്കൽ ദൂതുചെല്ലുക, കൂട്ടിക്കൊടുക്കുന്നവൻ, സുരതദൂതൻ

pander in Kannada

ಹೆಣ್ಣುಗ, ತಲೆಹಿಡುಕ, ತಲೆಹಿಡಿಕ, ತಲೆಹಿಡುಕತನ, ತಲೆಹಿಡುಕಿ, ಗುಪ್ತಪ್ರಣಯದ ವ್ಯವಹಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ನೆರವಾಗುವವ

Examples of pander in a sentence

Who are pandering at the expense of critically ill infants and children.
John walked over to the women on the couch with a pandering smile.
Cynics saw an opportunist pandering to the gullible masses.

All 18 example sentences with pander

Synonyms of pander

18 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of pander

Forms of pander

Noun
plural	panders
alternative form	pandar
Verb
third-person singular present	panders
present participle	pandering
past participle	pandered
past	pandered

Plural of pander: panders

Origin of pander

From Middle English pandare, from Chaucer’s character Pandare (in Troilus and Criseyde; see also Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida), from Italian Pandaro (found in Boccaccio), from Latin Pandarus (found in Greek mythology), from Ancient Greek Πάνδαρος (Pándaros).

Words formed from pander

Words that rhyme with pander

Questions about pander

What does pander mean?: Pander means a person who furthers the illicit love-affairs of others; a pimp or procurer.
What is pander in Urdu?: Pander in Urdu is دلال, دلالی کرنا. See Pander meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is pander?: Pander can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce pander?: Pander is pronounced /ˈpændə/ (UK).
What is the plural of pander?: The plural of pander is panders.

Words near pander in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pander (page history and authors); pander (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pander (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pander (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-pander.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pander.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pander. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.