dog whistle

noun

variants or less commonly dog-whistle

ˈdȯg-ˈ(h)wi-səl 

1

: a whistle to call or direct a dog

especially : one sounding at a frequency inaudible to the human ear

2

politics : an expression or statement that has a secondary meaning intended to be understood only by a particular group of people

Democrats and liberals sometimes have gone to ridiculous lengths to portray speech by Republicans and conservatives as dog whistles responsible for inciting unstable people to carry out violent acts …

—The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch

… habitually inserts dog-whistles into his speeches to motivate evangelical voters.

—The Economist

—often used before another noun

That is the fundamental perversity of 'dog whistle politics', whereby political parties send coded messages that will be heard one way by their core supporters and another way altogether by others.

—Robert E. Goodin

Examples of dog whistle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Politics Baseless birther attack on Kamala Harris shows how Trump is struggling to define her Aug. 13, 2020 Trump has also questioned people’s racial backgrounds — including Harris’ — and his use of racial dog whistles and overtly racist rhetoric have been fixtures of his public life. —Josh Boak, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2024

Joe Budden detailed Richman’s comments as a dog whistle of sorts for white artists who don’t want to stand next to Black artists but want to use or create Black art. —Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 17 Oct. 2024

To momentarily curb his prefab MAGA scriptures and racist dog whistles, Trump needed to exit the realm of the overtly political—which, apparently, meant sitting with a giggly, goateed standup comedian. —Brady Brickner-Wood, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2024

Is that a dog whistle back to Vance’s racist falsehoods that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s pets — which Trump also brought up at the debate? —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1801, in the meaning defined at sense 1