tin-pot

American  

[tin-pot] / ˈtɪnˈpɒt /

Or tinpot

adjective

1. inferior; paltry; shoddy.

   The tin-pot farce lasted only three performances before closing.

2. of minor importance or significance.

   a tin-pot dictator, trying to look like a statesman.

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Etymology

Origin of tin-pot

First recorded in 1835–45; tin ( def. ) (from the believed inferior quality of a tin pot) + pot ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

He’s 80% charisma, 20% peacock, who takes his fashion cues from tin-pot dictators and Elton John.

From Los Angeles Times

So did “The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman,” a picture-book satire on the Falklands War.

From Seattle Times

This tin-pot chumocratic government has its priorities all wrong.

From BBC

“President Trump is spending his last days in power like many tin-pot dictators: convincing his most rabid fans to keep fighting for a lost cause while he hides in a bunker somewhere,” Noah quipped.

From Los Angeles Times

What we witnessed Wednesday was not an image befitting the greatest democracy on earth, but something you’d see in a third-world nation with a tin-pot dictator.

From Washington Times