witch hunt
noun
1
: a searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft
2
: the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (such as political opponents) with unpopular views
Examples of witch hunt in a Sentence
He was the victim of a congressional witch hunt against Communists.
Recent Examples on the Web
In the late 1940s and 1950s, Sen. Joseph McCarthy unleashed a political witch hunt to root out US college professors labeled as communists.
—
Ray Sanchez, CNN, 21 Mar. 2025
In fall 2020, Pack assigned two political appointees at the agency to investigate senior White House correspondent Steve Herman; it was decried as a witch hunt and found by a federal judge to be an unconstitutional breach of the firewall's free speech protections.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 10 Mar. 2025
Gaetz maintained his innocence and characterized a related House Ethics Committee investigation as a witch hunt driven by allies of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose ouster Gaetz engineered.
—Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 6 Mar. 2025
Shauna, furious, leads a witch hunt into the woods to find him with Mari as guide.
—Esther Zuckerman, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for witch hunt
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Ray Sanchez, CNN, 21 Mar. 2025
In fall 2020, Pack assigned two political appointees at the agency to investigate senior White House correspondent Steve Herman; it was decried as a witch hunt and found by a federal judge to be an unconstitutional breach of the firewall's free speech protections.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 10 Mar. 2025
Gaetz maintained his innocence and characterized a related House Ethics Committee investigation as a witch hunt driven by allies of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose ouster Gaetz engineered.
—Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 6 Mar. 2025
Shauna, furious, leads a witch hunt into the woods to find him with Mari as guide.
—Esther Zuckerman, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for witch hunt
Cite this Entry
“Witch hunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/witch%20hunt. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
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