Potëmkin

[poh-tem-kin, puh-, puh-tyawm-kyin]

noun

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

Potemkin

/ 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

Example Sentences

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

An ice cream stand on the promenade near the Potemkin Stairs, Odesa’s most famous landmark.

From Los Angeles Times

It had all the hallmarks of an authoritarian Potemkin plebiscite.

From New York Times

One of the earliest iterations of that style was an emotive photo of the quarterback Philip Rivers, which Mr. Rader paired with “Study for the Nurse in the Film ‘Battleship Potemkin,’” by Francis Bacon.

From New York Times

Mr. McConnell suggested the program was a “profoundly tone-deaf” idea to create amid high inflation and compared the program to a Potemkin village designed to deceive American taxpayers.

From Washington Times