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Potemkin2

Syllabification: (Po·tem·kin)
Pronunciation: /pəˈtem(p)kin/

Definition of Potemkin

adjective

informal
  • having a false or deceptive appearance, especially one presented for the purpose of propaganda:it proved her to be a Potemkin feminist

Origin:

1930s: from Grigori Aleksandrovich Potyomkin (often transliterated Potemkin), a favorite of Empress Catherine II of Russia, who reputedly gave the order for sham villages to be built for the empress's tour of the Crimea in 1787

Potemkin in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of Potemkin in the British & World English dictionary