Potemkin village

Or Po·tem·kin Vil·lage

[poh-tem-kin vil-ij, puh‐]

noun

1. a pretentiously showy or imposing façade intended to mask or divert attention from an embarrassing or shabby fact or condition.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Potemkin village¹

1935–40; after Prince Potëmkin ( def. ), who allegedly had villages of cardboard constructed for Catherine II's visit to the Ukraine and the Crimea in 1787

Example Sentences

It was like the climactic scene in “Blazing Saddle,” when incompetent villain Hedley Lamarr tried to invade a small town with the baddest of hombres besides him only to find a Potemkin village.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. McConnell suggested the program was a “profoundly tone-deaf” idea to create amid high inflation and compared the program to a Potemkin village designed to deceive American taxpayers.

From Washington Times

The town has been compared to a Potemkin village, to Brigadoon, to a “feudal Disneyland” and to the town in the movie “The Truman Show.”

From New York Times

"All the lies and propaganda, the talk of 'special operations' and swift victories - all that was just a facade, like a Potemkin village."

From Reuters

One team encountered a Potemkin village of Russian hardware, officials said, with dozens of parked tanks accompanied by a small security detail.

From Washington Post