window dressing
8
5.6
- noun
- /ˈwɪndoʊ ˈdrɛsɪŋ/
- Informal
:
maquillaje
- All of the so-called measures by Obama and company are merely window dressing on a massive wound.
- just window dressing
- mere window dressing
- merely window dressing
Everything else is just window dressing compared to this concept.
- Everything else is just window dressing compared to this concept.
- In the absence of these things, it's just narcissistic window dressing.
- That's all kind of window dressing.
- A book proposal has three really crucial parts and the rest is sort of window dressing.
- When it comes to the other stuff, it seems to be fairly along the lines of window dressing.
- But that is simply the window dressing the facade.
Examples
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Recent public-employee pension reform efforts are just slightly more than window dressing.
Blog text (23) -
The government's new initiative was criticized as merely window dressing to distract from the ongoing economic issues.
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Everything else is just window dressing compared to this concept.
-
I suppose all that is window dressing.
Academic text (1995) -
Too often we get caught up in the window dressing and forget the core of our belief.
Blog text (1) -
Until we win over the teachers, the rest is window dressing.
Blog text (12) -
And I think what it proved is that diversity is not window dressing, as some people in the media have suggested.
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Commenting on the news to this author, a European Union ambassador said, "This is merely window dressing."
Academic text (2015) -
Worrying about whether a particular practice is labeled as "organic" or not is meaningless window dressing.
Blog text (24) -
The "Palin didn't have enough experience" line is just window dressing for the prime motivation.
Blog text (10)
Synonyms
39
7.2
A false appearance that hides true problems
4
7.5
A false act or story that tries to trick people, often to make them laugh
A thin good-looking cover that hides real problems
Decorative details added for show that do not make something work better
Small changes that make a room or thing look nicer
Antonyms
How Deceptive
- Literature
137
5.5
163
3.9
- Informal
8
5.6
95
4.4
133
2.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal reading of 'window' + 'dressing' (decorating or arranging a shop window) directly suggests making a display look attractive, so a learner who knows the parts can infer a meaning related to improving appearance. However, the idiomatic extension to a cosmetic or deceptive action that hides problems requires a metaphorical shift from literal display to abstract presentation, so the exact evaluative sense is not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Window dressing comes from the same shop idea: sellers 'dressed' the window and the word dressing meant showing pretty items to hide poor goods, so the phrase now means 'an action that makes something look better than it really is'.