Words can inspire. They can convince or dissuade. Or they can inflame. Language is laden with meaning, and its use — or misuse — has consequences. Elected officials and those who represent them have an implicit responsibility to use their rhetorical gifts to inform, not to mislead.

In our sharply divided society, political advocates of all stripes — aided by the enormous megaphone of mass media — tend to adopt language that evokes desired reactions, using words with meanings very different than the definitions in our thumb-worn old (for those of a certain age) Merriam-Webster dictionaries.

That’s OK. Language is alive, always changing. But it’s well worth the effort to remain attuned to the subtle messaging behind the words we hear everyday. A few examples.

Democracy. Few words typify the American ideal more clearly than “democracy.” But of late, leftists have appointed themselves the guardians of American democracy and warn us constantly that their political adversaries on the Right pose its greatest threat. Sunday’s Washington Post, for example, carried the front-page headline, “Democracy at risk with defendant candidate.”

Just the opposite is true: Free expression and voting by every citizen, regardless of political affiliation, is democracy.

Gender. Once a very simple word meaning biological sex (i.e., male or female), the word “gender” now refers to each individual’s self-selected identity as a member of one or more of an ever-expanding assortment of sexual/social constructs, irrespective of one’s bodily configuration, reproductive organs, exterior plumbing, chromosomes, etc. And now that the meaning of the word has been turned upside down, we’re all obligated to accept it as the new truth.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The acronym DEI has been widely adopted as a canon of government, academia, and industry. Its three component words seem positive and upbeat, but they carry unquestionably woke messaging, along with an ample share of contradiction. University student bodies may look diverse, but you won’t find any conservative professors. “Equity” sounds very much like America’s landmark “equality,” but with emphasis shifted from equal opportunity to equal outcomes. The term “inclusion” implies open-armed welcoming of all, but it is intolerant of opposing viewpoints.

Black and white. These were once just colors, of skin or anything else; now they carry enormous social implications. “Black” seems now to be the more respected term, to the degree that someone, somewhere decided that in print the word must be capitalized. “White,” by comparison, is usually a deprecating adjective, most often kept in lowercase and linked inescapably with abhorrent terms like “white supremacy” and “white privilege.”

What happened to the idea that all men (people) are created equal? Or Martin Luther King’s wishful hope that what matters is content of character, not color of skin?

Care. Surely, we all accept our collective responsibility to care for our fellow citizens. But the meaning of care gets murky in the heavily marketed terms “gender-affirming care” and “reproductive healthcare.” The former includes actions to radically and permanently modify healthy human bodies to better approximate desired gender identity — horrifying in all cases and incomprehensible for children not yet old enough to drive a car. The latter implies that abortions — resulting in termination of 65 million lives in the U.S. since the ill-conceived Roe v. Wade — is fundamentally a matter of healthcare for pregnant women. That may be the case sometimes, but in no case is abortion care for the unborn.

Migrant. The accurate and once official term “illegal aliens” over time has morphed to “illegal immigrants,” then to “undocumented immigrants,” and now to just plain “migrants.” That politically convenient new terminology essentially erases the distinction between those who have come to our nation legally and those who sneak across the border and stay here. Unfettered illegal entry, and the dangers (drugs, gang activity, etc.) that it facilitates, will ultimately destroy the nation.

Extreme. That’s the label leftists apply to anything with which they disagree. It’s easy to sit on one’s perch wherever it happens to be on the left-to-right spectrum and dismiss all others as extreme. It would be more helpful to reserve that for viewpoints and actions that are far from the mainstream and objectively alarming.

Provocative political rhetoric has become commonplace in America, but it’s easy to recognize and discount. It is the more subtle, persuasive language choice — that which quietly influences public understanding and viewpoints and is used expressly for that reason — that is particularly harmful.

Words from our leaders — whether from a folksy Joe Biden or a blustering Donald Trump, or from elected officials at all levels, or from the legions of media journalists who carry their messages — always register at some level.

Listen carefully. Very carefully.