Potëmkin

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

noun

Prince Gri·go·ri A·le·ksan·dro·vich [prinsgri-gawr-ee al-ig-zan-druh-vich, -zahn-; Russian gryi-gaw-ryee uh-lyi-ksahn-druh-vyich], /ˈprɪns grɪˈgɔr i ˌæl ɪgˈzæn drə vɪtʃ, -ˈzɑn-; Russian gryɪˈgɔ ryi ʌ lyɪˈksɑn drə vyɪtʃ/, 1739–91, Russian statesman and favorite of Catherine II.

Words Nearby Potëmkin

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

How to use Potëmkin in a sentence

Potemkin distillers are going to have all the juice they need for years to come.
Your ‘Craft’ Rye Whiskey Is Probably From a Factory Distillery in Indiana | Eric Felten | July 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It's as Potemkin Village-ish a piece of journalistic writing as I've seen in a long time.
The Des Moines Register's Practical Joke | Michael Tomasky | October 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
No one outside Limbaughland or Trumpville, Potemkin villages where no one will vote for Obama anyway, credited the humbug.
Robert Shrum on the Vice Presidential Debate: Biden’s Win Was a Big F@$&ing Deal | Robert Shrum | October 12, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
The lobbyist-journalist-politician scandal has dynamited the Potemkin village that is Indian journalism.
The Fall of India's Katie Couric? | Tunku Varadarajan | November 30, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
It was a Potemkin Village of technology, camera-ready but a long way short of leaving the ground.
Is Boeing's New Plane Safe? | Clive Irving | June 23, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST

Catherine's favourite, Potemkin, full of valorous confidence, is encouraging his Empress: 'A million roubles she'll win!
Rowlandson the Caricaturist. First Volume | Joseph Grego
Potemkin, your invincible feeder, will back you to the last.'
Rowlandson the Caricaturist. First Volume | Joseph Grego
Potemkin, who was then at the head of the Russian army, dreaded Catharine's displeasure should she be disappointed the third time.
International Weekly Miscellany Vol. I. No. 3, July 15, 1850 | Various
At that moment a courier rode up at full speed with dispatches from Potemkin.
International Weekly Miscellany Vol. I. No. 3, July 15, 1850 | Various
Potemkin, under whose orders Jones stood, was of a thoroughly despotic type.
Paul Jones | Hutchins Hapgood

British Dictionary definitions for Potemkin

Potemkin

Potyomkin

/ (pɒˈtɛmkɪn, Russian paˈtjɔmkin) /

noun

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
apparently impressive but actually sham or artificial: North Korea's Potemkin hospital

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

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