tinpot
Britishadjective
-
inferior, cheap, or worthless
-
paltry; unimportant
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.
"We will not accept being treated like children. We will not accept being treated as if we were some tinpot republic," a furious Lula said at an event in the country's northeast.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
But even tinpot dictators and autocrats at least pay lip-service to working for the common good.
From Salon • Oct. 12, 2024
There has already been some grudging talk of a tinpot trophy, of undue euphoria at crumbs from a competition Jürgen Klopp has called “the most senseless in the world”.
From The Guardian • Nov. 21, 2018
They are more clever and subtle than your garden variety tinpot dictatorship.
From New York Times • Jan. 23, 2018
No tinpot order of mice was going to stand against the might of Cluny the Scourge.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
