tinhorn

American  

[tin-hawrn] / ˈtɪnˌhɔrn /

noun

1. someone, especially a gambler, who pretends to be important but actually has little money, influence, or skill.

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adjective

1. cheap and insignificant; small-time.

   a tinhorn racket.

tinhorn British  

/ ˈtɪnˌhɔːn /

noun

1. a cheap pretentious person, esp a gambler with extravagant claims

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adjective

1. cheap and showy

Etymology

Origin of tinhorn

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; tin + horn

Example Sentences

Seen from sophisticated aeries such as New York or London, their politics have often seemed clownish and tinhorn.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 26, 2017

This self-destructive mechanism for members’ sovereignty enabled tinhorn bureaucrats to run roughshod over good governance.

From Washington Times • Jun. 22, 2016

It may not be our job to topple every tinhorn dictator who plans his flag on a plot of land.

From US News • Apr. 18, 2016

The Marines, McKean claims, were a tinhorn elite corps until World War I, when Correspondent Floyd Gibbons immortalized the 4th Marine Brigade in the Battle of Belleau Wood.

From Time Magazine Archive

There was more jokers in that contract than in a tinhorn gambler’s deck of cards–he had me peoned for life–and after I’d given him half my strike he came out and claimed it all.

From Wunpost by Coolidge, Dane