Examples of bread and circuses in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Even with Joe Rogan ringside bringing color commentary in Sin City tomorrow night, that’s gotta hurt Paramount+ almost as much as losing part of the bread and circuses spotlight to Netflix and a skinny guy Spider-manning up the 11th tallest building in the world with the wind whipping around him.
—
Dominic Patten, Deadline, 23 Jan. 2026
Murphy casts fame and celebrity like the Romans used bread and circuses.
—Michael Appler, Variety, 24 Sep. 2024
The book’s critique of governmental bread and circuses to mollify the masses also gets neutered, as the film ironically shoves cameos by other Netflix stars into every available minute — as if reminding viewers there’s plenty else to watch here once the film ends.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2024
My second takeaway is that bread and circuses — the Roman phrase for distracting the populace with spectacle — was in full force.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2024
So part of this is a kind of bread and circuses campaign, right?
—The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 27 Sep. 2023
The Romans are famous for offering bread and circuses to their underprivileged citizens.
—Serenity Gibbons, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022
But Close paints an evocative portrait of the varied and ambiguous roles sports can play in an autocracy, where a regime’s reliance on bread and circuses may eventually wear thin in the absence of genuine progress.
—Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs, 11 Aug. 2020
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.
Dominic Patten, Deadline, 23 Jan. 2026
Murphy casts fame and celebrity like the Romans used bread and circuses.
—Michael Appler, Variety, 24 Sep. 2024
The book’s critique of governmental bread and circuses to mollify the masses also gets neutered, as the film ironically shoves cameos by other Netflix stars into every available minute — as if reminding viewers there’s plenty else to watch here once the film ends.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2024
My second takeaway is that bread and circuses — the Roman phrase for distracting the populace with spectacle — was in full force.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2024
So part of this is a kind of bread and circuses campaign, right?
—The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 27 Sep. 2023
The Romans are famous for offering bread and circuses to their underprivileged citizens.
—Serenity Gibbons, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022
But Close paints an evocative portrait of the varied and ambiguous roles sports can play in an autocracy, where a regime’s reliance on bread and circuses may eventually wear thin in the absence of genuine progress.
—Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs, 11 Aug. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Bread and circuses.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bread%20and%20circuses. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
