show trial
(especially in a totalitarian state) the public trial of a political offender conducted chiefly for propagandistic purposes, as to suppress further dissent against the government by making an example of the accused.
Origin of show trial
1Words Nearby show trial
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use show trial in a sentence
The great thing about a show trial is that you pick your witnesses and questions.
How the Pentagon Strangles Its Most Advanced Stealth Warplanes | Bill Sweetman | October 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Orange Revolution heroine gets seven years and a $180 million fine in state show trial.
Oatis was then snatched away, subjected to a show trial, and jailed.
The purge may hesitate at putting John McCain on show trial.
There is a special show trial awaiting Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Phil Gramm of UBS.
British Dictionary definitions for show trial
a trial conducted primarily to make a particular impression on the public or on other nations, esp one that demonstrates the power of the state over the individual
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
Browse