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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He’s 80% charisma, 20% peacock, who takes his fashion cues from tin-pot dictators and Elton John.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2025
Yes, Adolf Hitler was ridiculous and vulgar, a tin-pot demagogue instead of a smooth politician, but he knew how to excite the nationalist base and deliver a whopper of a speech.
From New York Times • Mar. 17, 2020
Former president Kgalema Motlanthe, who headed a panel of inquiry into the land issue, described traditional leaders as “village tin-pot dictators.”
From Reuters • Aug. 24, 2018
Out of the mayhem emerge three “witches,” a woman and two men: American-sounding covert operatives spreading unrest and looking for a puppet to be their next tin-pot dictator.
From Washington Post • May 2, 2017
But what tin-pot nonsense is the Tally-ho speech of Lady Grace Harkaway.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, December 6, 1890 by Various
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.
