Word for people easily influenced by propaganda

Question

What is the word that describes people who are easily influenced by propaganda or always do what all other people are seen to be doing without much thinking?

According to psychologists and social psychologists, the more educated you are, the less susceptible you think you are, but, in fact, they claim it's quite the opposite. People who are educated are generally more open-minded than the ignorant & ill-educated, so they're more influenced by propaganda than the closed-minded. People who "always do what all other people are seen to be doing without much thinking" are called "conformists" & "well-adjusted members of society". Your fellow parishioners, for example; your fraternity brothers; your military or corporate colleagues; etc. — , Dec 08 '12 at 09:53
At least in me experience, most of them are called "salesmen". The defining characteristic of being a good salesman is being susceptible to your own propaganda (which usually translates to being susceptible others' propaganda as well). — Jerry Coffin, Dec 08 '12 at 16:55

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 08 '12 at 09:26

9

I know of no word quite so specific, but gullible describes anyone who is easily fooled.

answered Dec 08 '12 at 09:26

Barrie England

140,205

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 08 '12 at 13:22

9

Well, If we're throwing words around, I'd like to throw in credulous.

answered Dec 08 '12 at 13:22

Mr Lister

952

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 13 '19 at 22:09

3

The succinct word - in fact the singular word for which the question is the exact definition of, is:

SUGGESTIBLE

A suggestible person is someone easily influenced by propaganda.

answered Apr 13 '19 at 22:09

Arn Prince

31

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 08 '12 at 09:49

3

What about uncritical or accepting?

answered Dec 08 '12 at 09:49

CesarGon

3,595

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 23 '16 at 22:36

2

The word I always think of first when someone is easily influenced or persuaded is "impressionable"

answered Feb 23 '16 at 22:36

Name

21

3

Hello, Name, and welcome to English Language & Usage. This is an excellent suggestion in my opinion; but to make your answer more self-contained, please consider adding a relevant definition for impressionable from a reliable dictionary. This will corroborate your answer and help readers who aren't familiar with the precise meaning of the word see at once why it works here. If you make the additional effort, I'll happily upvote your answer. – Sven Yargs Feb 24 '16 at 00:05

score 2 · Answer 6 · edited Oct 06 '20 at 00:12

2

"Sukka" was the closest word to the definition. Too bad it is slang. Maybe "propagandized." (ex.: The propagandized buy into the fake news, without questioning the lack of names or evidence.)

edited Oct 06 '20 at 00:12

Laurel

66,382

answered Oct 05 '20 at 18:16

Twit

21

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 19 '12 at 23:01

2

Conformist / conforming - has the strong connotation of someone who "goes along" but not of that being a bad thing. One might (rightly) conform to a law one doesn't happen to like, or (wrongly) conform to a mob's violence or social injustice.

Suggestible - someone who takes on thoughts and ideas from others without conscious consideration

Susceptible (to propaganda) - can be influenced/affected

Influenceable (by propaganda) - as above

Malleable - bendable, implies resistance on some level that is ultimately suspended. The analogy is to metalworking.

Compliant - someone who complies over-readily

Sheepish - used in a certain sense, it means someone who follows a herd mentality. It can also mean shy or cowardly.

Lemming - (noun) means someone who follows a crowd even suicidally

answered Dec 19 '12 at 23:01

Ryan Haber

1,981

4

To me, "they are sheepish" would normally mean embarrassed/bashful. It's "they are sheep" that I see as embodying OP's credulous, easily-led sense. – FumbleFingers Dec 19 '12 at 23:30
Fair enough. I think my use still works, though. http://www.wordreference.com/thesaurus/sheepish – Ryan Haber Dec 20 '12 at 05:07
1

Of course. I don't mean to say "sheepish" is never used with that sense. It's just that the distinction I made applies more often than not, but this would not be clear from your wording. – FumbleFingers Dec 20 '12 at 16:46
Fair enough, @FumbleFingers. – Ryan Haber Jan 03 '13 at 21:30

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 15 '14 at 14:38

I'd like to throw my entry into the ring. 'Weak Minded'. Wikipedia says for Weak Minded "... is the state of being easily impressionable or possessing a weak sense of self-will, judgement or conviction.

A weak minded individual's opinion may be easily swayed by propaganda or emotional manipulation tactics, as they do not possess an adequate ability to judge or discern the quality of an assertion, or they may exhibit a lack of discipline."

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 05 '20 at 18:21

1

Apart from those that have already been suggested, I can think of-

Naïve
Ingenuous

Very simple ones but worthy of mention-

Childish
Innocent
Inexperienced

If you’re trying to insult someone-

Ignorant
Silly
Foolish

Slightly poetic-

Green
As green as grass

answered Oct 05 '20 at 18:21

Atharva Navaratne

11

2

Welcome to EL&U. Please feel free to take the Tour and visit the Help Page on how to prepare good answers. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Oct 05 '20 at 18:37

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 06 '18 at 05:53

0

Final Answer: SUCKA noun /SUK-Kuh/
Definition of SUKKA: Easily swayed, duped, easy target, no original opinions, dumbass, patsy. (syn.)

Ex. - "I sold that SUKKA 3 gold chains. He found out they were fake, wanted his skrilla back, so I doubled it to 6 gold chains and he took it!'

REf: URBAN DICTIONARY

answered Apr 06 '18 at 05:53

Carlos Sun-Tana

1

1

This looks like quoted content from Urban Dictionary. Please provide the link with your answer, and use block quotes to show what part you wrote and what is from Urban Dictionary. – Ellie Kesselman Apr 06 '18 at 12:47

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 06 '20 at 02:02

0

Sheeple wasn't in the dictionary when this question was asked, but it is now; and the word has been around since 1945.

informal
: people who are docile, compliant, or easily influenced : people likened to sheep

Merriam Webster:sheeple

answered Oct 06 '20 at 02:02

Phil Sweet

15,699

score -2 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 19 '15 at 08:17

-2

I would prefer the word fickle minded for this.

answered Feb 19 '15 at 08:17

Sourabh

1

4

http://english.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer: "Brevity is acceptable, but fuller explanations are better." :) – Honza Zidek Feb 19 '15 at 08:48

Word for people easily influenced by propaganda

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