tinhorn
- noun
- /ˈtɪnˌhɔrn/
- Offensive
- What the Americans call a "tinhorn," that is, a noisy bluffer, yet to us he's a real threat.
Examples
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Come on now, both you guys know Lutz is a shit-for-brain tinhorn politician.
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No tinhorn colonel's gonna come here and declare martial law.
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I know a tinhorn when I see one.
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The great state of two-bit tinhorns, you mean?
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A drifter, a cheater, a tinhorn.
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Don't you and your tinhorn bastards... let this thing go to the Commies.
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Draw, you damned tinhorn!
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- That tinhorn Frankie?
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He acted like a big shot, but everyone knew he was just a tinhorn trying to impress people.
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The crowd could easily spot the tinhorn pretending to be a wealthy businessman.
Synonyms
A person who pretends to be something they are not to trick others
A person who pretends to have feelings or beliefs to deceive others
A person who pretends to be someone they are not
A person who pretends to be someone else to trick people
A person who says they have special skills to trick people
A person who pretends to be someone else or lies to trick people
A person who lies about their job or skills to trick people
A person who pretends to have skills or knowledge they do not have
Acting important but having no real skill or success
A person who pretends to have skills or money to impress others
A person who pretends to know a lot to impress others
A person who pretends to be someone else to trick people
Antonyms
How Pretentious
- Offensive
- Offensive
- Offensive
- Offensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Tinhorn first named a noisy small-time man in 19th-century saloons, with tin ('cheap') and horn ('to boast' or make a loud sound) creating the image of a loud show-off. That's why a tinhorn as a noun is a person who pretends to be important or rich but really is not.