veneer
19
7.4
- noun
- /vəˈnɪr/
:
fachada
- There's always this veneer of innocence or lack of learning or lack of sophistication.
- veneer of respectability
- veneer of legitimacy
- veneer of secularism
It's people who have this veneer of, you know, trying to look good.
- It's people who have this veneer of, you know, trying to look good.
- They they have to have a certain veneer and the car is part of the veneer.
- And that below that veneer sort of real raw human nature resides.
- The lies and, and and the fronting and the facade and the veneer had become so much a part of me.
- I thought it was going to have a veneer of depth and, and what was the term and meaning?
- It's a very shiny veneer that nasty people put over the front of their meanness to appear nice.
Examples
-
A veneer of civility hides our true self-interests.
-
Under his veneer of honesty, a rich dark grain had waited to shine all along.
Fiction book (1998) -
Information and education are provided under the veneer of entertainment.
Academic text (2011) -
But I am so convinced that there is this thin veneer between where people are and success.
-
Under this veneer we're all savages.
-
And that below that veneer sort of real raw human nature resides.
-
And he will bear responsibility because giving a veneer of respectability to this way of thinking is cheap in the end.
-
But civil rights groups say airline profiles have only put a scientific veneer on prejudice.
Academic text (1997) -
A bitter feud for regional political status lies beneath the veneer of compassion for the Iraqi people.
Academic text (1997) -
The politician's promises were just a veneer that concealed his true intentions.
Synonyms
306
6.7
An appearance that hides true feelings or intentions
209
3.5
An outer appearance that hides what someone or something is really like
72
5.1
A way of showing yourself that hides problems to make others think well of you
39
7.2
A false appearance that hides true problems
13
7.0
An attractive appearance that hides something unpleasant
8
6.8
A false appearance that hides someone's true feelings or plans
A false front that hides real problems
A polite or calm face that hides what someone really feels
Antonyms
How Deceptive
Surface Forms
Etymology
Veneer for a false appearance comes from the idea of a thin covering that hides what is underneath, like a pretty 'skin' over poor material. So when we say something is just a veneer, we mean its good looks only cover the real truth beneath.