Barmecide

American  

[bahr-muh-sahyd] / ˈbɑr məˌsaɪd /

noun

1. a member of a noble Persian family of Baghdad who, according to a tale in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, gave a beggar a pretended feast with empty dishes.

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adjective

1. Barmecidal.

Barmecide British  

/ ˈbɑːmɪˌsaɪd /

adjective

1. lavish or plentiful in imagination only; illusory; sham

   a Barmecide feast

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Etymology

Origin of Barmecide

< Persian Barmekī family name, literally, offspring of Barmek, with -ide -id ¹ for Persian -ī < Arabic

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Barmecide

The latter piece, titled “The Barmecide Feast,” is well built — down to the corny Late Empire porcelains employed as backdrop on the luminous white set.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2017

To write without having the subject abundantly in mind is to invite the reader to a Barmecide feast of empty dishes.

From Vocal Expression A Class-book of Voice Training and Interpretation by Katherine Jewell Everts

But a banquet in which the plates only are good is but a Barmecide feast, after all.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 by Various

Swearing at systems and ideas, as Hadria says, is a Barmecide feast to one’s vindictiveness.”

From The Daughters of Danaus by Mona Caird

Thence he despatched an expeditionary force, nominally under the command of Hārūn, but in reality under that of his tutor, the Barmecide Yahyā b.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 "Calhoun" to "Camoens" by Various

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