Potëmkin

American  

[poh-tem-kin, puh-, puh-tyawm-kyin] / poʊˈtɛm kɪn, pə-, pʌˈtyɔm kyɪn /

noun

1. Prince Grigori Aleksandrovich 1739–91, Russian statesman and favorite of Catherine II.

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Potemkin British  

/ paˈtjɔmkin, pɒˈtɛmkɪn /

noun

1. Grigori Aleksandrovich (ɡriˈɡɔrij alɪkˈsandrəvitʃ). 1739–91, Russian soldier and statesman; lover of Catherine II, whose favourite he remained until his death, and who is reputed to have erected sham villages along the route of the Empress's 1787 tour of the Crimea

2. apparently impressive but actually sham or artificial

   North Korea's Potemkin hospital

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Example Sentences

“It’s a Potemkin village,” said Simon Haeder, a professor at Ohio State University who studies insurers’ provider networks.

From The Wall Street Journal

But a lawsuit filed hours after the Texas Senate moved the maps to Gov. Greg Abbott for his approval alleged that all the finagling had created “Potemkin majority-Latino districts.”

From Los Angeles Times

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

And if he succeeds in transforming America into a de facto dictatorship, he will need lawyers to staff the remaining Potemkin legal system.

From Slate

The story of Watson kept growing, a Potemkin village of charm, a performance of himself as the answer to calls for diversity, with so much at stake but no real foundation, even among the people at his own company.

From Slate