mummery

[muhm-uh-ree]

noun

plural

mummeries 

1. the performance of mummers.

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

mummery

/ ˈmʌmərɪ /

noun

1. a performance by mummers

2. hypocritical or ostentatious ceremony

Word History and Origins

Origin of mummery¹

First recorded in 1520–30; mummer + -y ³

Example Sentences

But what was once the norm can now seem a kind of ableist mummery, which this production attempts to sidestep by offering a Richard with no physical impairments at all.

Read more on New York Times

Scalia writes that Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion is written “in a style that is as pretentious as its content is egotistic,” overflowing with “mummeries,” “silly extravagances,” and “straining-to-be-memorable passages.”

Read more on MSNBC

“A show, as you have said. Let them have their mummery. When they are gone, we will make a fruit market of what they leave behind.”

Read more on Literature

If we lose the war, she ought to take up mummery, she has a gift for it.

Read more on Literature

"It would seem you've had quite an adventure. These men you heard, you say they spoke of juggling and mummery?"

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Related Words

• antic 
• farce 
• gag 
• humor 
• laugh 
• one-liner 
• parody 
• prank 
• pun 
• stunt 
• trick 
• wisecrack