Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Something that appears elaborate and impressive but in actual fact lacks substance.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun idiomatic Any
false construct devised todisguise ashortcoming orimprove appearances .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun something that seems impressive but in fact lacks substance
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Some congressmen, however, including quite a few Democrats, went privately to Nicaragua, did their homework and independent digging, talked to the people, and discovered the truth: that what was being offered to the congressmen on the government’s guided tours was a trip past a Potemkin village—a false-fronted democracy, all illusion and no substance—and these congressmen would vote with us on Contra aid.
An American Life Ronald Reagan 1990
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Some congressmen, however, including quite a few Democrats, went privately to Nicaragua, did their homework and independent digging, talked to the people, and discovered the truth: that what was being offered to the congressmen on the government’s guided tours was a trip past a Potemkin village—a false-fronted democracy, all illusion and no substance—and these congressmen would vote with us on Contra aid.
An American Life Ronald Reagan 1990
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Some congressmen, however, including quite a few Democrats, went privately to Nicaragua, did their homework and independent digging, talked to the people, and discovered the truth: that what was being offered to the congressmen on the government’s guided tours was a trip past a Potemkin village—a false-fronted democracy, all illusion and no substance—and these congressmen would vote with us on Contra aid.
An American Life Ronald Reagan 1990
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Some congressmen, however, including quite a few Democrats, went privately to Nicaragua, did their homework and independent digging, talked to the people, and discovered the truth: that what was being offered to the congressmen on the government’s guided tours was a trip past a Potemkin village—a false-fronted democracy, all illusion and no substance—and these congressmen would vote with us on Contra aid.
An American Life Ronald Reagan 1990
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