Thesaurus results for PRESSURE GROUPS

pressure groups

noun

plural of pressure group

as in interests

a group of people with a common identifying interest that they seek to protect and promote observed that if publishers gave in to every pressure group, nothing would ever get published

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of pressure groups Public pressure groups, and politicians such as Herman Mashaba, are calling on the government to do much, much more. — Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 26 July 2026 Increasingly, book bans are driven less by individuals than by politically motivated pressure groups targeting decision-makers. — Spin Team, SPIN, 22 June 2026 The leader of the Ex-Slave Pension Association was later imprisoned on mail fraud charges, and the organization faded away, while the Eagles became one of the pressure groups that eventually led to Social Security. — Trevor Jackson, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026 Cosseted by favorable districts and incumbent fundraising advantages, the majority caters mostly to pressure groups — especially socially conservative ones — that influence Republican primaries. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 10 Feb. 2026 Johnson is calling for coordinated national efforts led by mayors and state governments, in concert with public pressure groups and local residents, to combat the actions by ICE, the Border Patrol and other federal authorities. — David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026 At the same time, pressure groups worked hard to get younger, more YIMBY legislators elected. — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026 Nearly 72% of censorship attempts in 2024 were initiated by pressure groups and decision makers who have been swayed by them. — Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 5 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pressure groups

Noun

Gold medalist Lauryn Williams is proof that not every financial adviser has your best interests in mind.

— Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
The race has also attracted millions in outside spending from some of Los Angeles’s most powerful interests.

— Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of interests

Noun

Today, lobbying has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry and business now outspends labor and public-interest groups 34-to-one.

— Christopher Marquis, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
That measure includes a 5% bonus for independent films, and has the backing of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, along with the Motion Picture Association and a wide range of other entertainment interest groups.

— Todd Spangler, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of interest groups

Noun

He’s seized on the attorney general’s abundant out-of-state travel — for official business, Ford says — to portray him as a high-flier beholden to the special interests that financed his jaunts.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Both questions surrounding special interests underscored the extent to which the pair has been entrenched in politics for decades, even as Jackson presents himself as the outsider taking on the ultimate insider.

— Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of special interests

Browse Nearby Words

pressure group

pressure groups

pressures

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Pressure groups.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pressure%20groups. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of pressure groups

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

grotesque

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes