mummery

[muhm-uh-ree]

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noun, plural mum·mer·ies.

the performance of mummers.

any performance, ceremony, etc., regarded as absurd, false, or ostentatious.

Origin of mummery

First recorded in 1520–30; mummer + -y³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mummery

pun, humor, antic, farce, one-liner, trick, laugh, parody, gag, stunt, wisecrack, prank, decorum, repartee, whimsy, revel, epigram, jest, sport, rib

Examples from the Web for mummery

Historical Examples of mummery

But your hypocrisy and your mummery shall serve you to little purpose.
Imogen
William Godwin
That is as good as going to Church to be the central figures of the mummery of priests.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Even to keep an open mind himself to all the muss and mummery of the Church!
The Woman Thou Gavest Me
Hall Caine
They too recognized him now, and realized that here was no mummery.
The Sea-Hawk
Raphael Sabatini
It was all humbug––all this mummery about intuitions and unerring perception and inscrutability.
Rope
Holworthy Hall

British Dictionary definitions for mummery

mummery

noun plural -meries

a performance by mummers

hypocritical or ostentatious ceremony

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mummery

1520s, "performance of mumming," from Old French mommerie, from momer (see mummer). Transferred sense of "ridiculous ceremony or ritual" is from 1540s.