spin doctor

English

Etymology

From spin + doctor.

Noun

spin doctor (plural spin doctors)

1. A person employed to gloss over a poor public image (or present it in a better light) in business and politics, especially after unfavourable results have been achieved. A lobbyist; PR person.

   Many believed that the reduction in public spending was a disaster but the spin doctors presented it as a triumph for lower taxation.

Translations

a person hired to improve public image

• French: spin doctor (fr) m
• German: Imageberater (de) m

• Russian: политтехнолог (ru) (polittexnolog) m
• Spanish: asesor de imagen (es) m

Verb

spin doctor (third-person singular simple present spin doctors, present participle spin doctoring, simple past and past participle spin doctored)

1. To generate spin (favourable interpretation or bias).

Antonym

counterspin doctor (plural spin doctors)

1. A person employed to represent a truth (and present it in sincerity) to all people in private life and in business and politics, especially after unfavourable influence of those who have employed spin doctors to achieve maximum damage upon a society. A lobbyist; PR person.

   Many believed that the reduction in public spending was a disaster but the spin doctors presented it as a triumph for lower taxation. That was, until the counterspin doctors made public the truth.

1. To generate counterspin (representation of truth).

1. Addition of the antonym "counterspin doctor" following the appointment in Australian politics by a political party of a person designated to word the truth in succinct form for the Australian people - performing the opposite function of the spin doctor