Potemkin village
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of Potemkin village
1935–40; after Prince Potëmkin ( def. ), who allegedly had villages of cardboard constructed for Catherine II's visit to the Ukraine and the Crimea in 1787
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s possible this has left him thinking the world’s bad guys are a Potemkin village, that they talk big but fold quickly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
They are the world’s most expensive decorations — a clean-energy Potemkin village stretched across the provinces.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026
Visitors and cameras paraded through what had become a Potemkin village.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2018
Jamison Carter’s new sculptures are like stage sets for splendor, together forming a Potemkin village of triumphal bliss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2018
One team encountered a Potemkin village of Russian hardware, officials said, with dozens of parked tanks accompanied by a small security detail.
From Washington Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
