paper tiger

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noun

a person, group, nation, or thing that has the appearance of strength or power but is actually weak or ineffectual.

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Origin of paper tiger

First recorded in 1945–50

Words nearby paper tiger

paper profit, paper-pusher, paper-shelled, paper tape, paper-thin, paper tiger, paper trail, paper-train, paper wasp, paperweight, paper-white narcissus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use paper tiger in a sentence

Back when Sam went upstate, job searches required nothing more than a typewriter, some paper, and the classifieds.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“We would just as soon stay away from a group that will create controversy,” the Cubs general manager Sam Bernabe told the paper.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
All of the big cats have a special mystique, but perhaps none more so than the tiger.
This Tiger Has Some Serious Ups|Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The reality TV mogul bared her butt—and everything else, too—for Paper Magazine in a spread that sent Twitter into a tizzy.
Kim Kardashian Cheekily Breaks the Internet|Kevin O’Keeffe|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Fold the parchment paper with the dry ingredients in half and pour into the stand mixer.
Make ‘The Chew’s’ Carla Hall’s Sticky Toffee Pudding|Carla Hall|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even as they gazed they saw its roof caught up, and whirled off as if it had been a scroll of paper.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
A small book, bound in full purple calf, lay half hidden in a nest of fine tissue paper on the dressing-table.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
Bits of paper blew aimlessly about, wafted by a little, feverish breeze, which rose in spasms and died away.
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens
The Spaniards since have substituted paper for the leaves of maize, in imitation of them.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
"Buy something for your wife that-is-to-be," he said to his grand-nephew, as he handed him the folded paper.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills

British Dictionary definitions for paper tiger

paper tiger

noun

a nation, institution, etc, that appears powerful but is in fact weak or insignificant

Word Origin for paper tiger

C20: translation of a Chinese phrase first applied to the US

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

paper tiger

Origin of paper tiger

Words nearby paper tiger

Words related to paper tiger

How to use paper tiger in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for paper tiger

Word Origin for paper tiger