A person who deliberately spreads hatred and anger among groups of people to cause division and conflict.
Formed in the mid-20th century from 'hate' (Old English 'hete') combined with 'monger' (from Old English 'mangere', meaning merchant or dealer). The term emerged during WWII to describe those who spread propaganda designed to incite racial or political hatred.
This word was originally created to condemn Nazi propagandists, but it gained widespread use during the Civil Rights era to describe people who exploited fear to gain political power. Interestingly, 'monger' also gives us words like 'fishmonger' and 'warmonger'—showing how the same word root describes both innocent merchants and dangerous spreaders of toxic ideas.
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