Potemkin village
1
9.9
- noun
- /pəˈtɛm.kɪn ˈvɪl.ɪdʒ/
- Literature
:
aldea Potemkin
- The new housing development was just a Potemkin village, hiding the lack of infrastructure underneath.
Examples
-
That last was a Potemkin village.
Fiction book (1995) -
My guess is that the whole thing becomes a Potemkin village where the government pretends to fine you and people pretend to pay the fine.
Blog text (21) -
We will continue to have the trappings of some sort of representative democracy here, but they are like a Potemkin village.
Blog text (7) -
Harare, Zimbabwe's seemingly prosperous capital, had the air in July of a modern Potemkin village.
Academic text (2000) -
Just as the citizens of the Soviet Union weren't fooled by Potemkin villages and wanted the benefits of advancement that Western citizens had, customers in your market or industry are aware of rapid change and innovation in other markets and will demand it in your industry as well.
Blog text (30) -
The grand opening of the resort felt like a Potemkin village, with beautiful facades masking poor service and shoddy work.
-
The presentation was designed to impress investors, but it turned out to be a Potemkin village that concealed the company's financial troubles.
Synonyms
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
26
4.6
A way of hiding something so it is not easily seen
8
6.8
A false appearance that hides someone's true feelings or plans
8
5.6
An action that makes something look better than it really is to hide problems
A false front that hides real problems
Showy in a way that does not seem honest
Antonyms
How Deceptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
Potemkin + village
The idiomatic sense 'an impressive but fake facade' derives from a historical/cultural reference to Grigory Potemkin rather than from regular compositional meanings of the parts; knowing the word 'village' and the proper name 'Potemkin' does not allow a learner to infer the deceptive/fake meaning. This is a lexicalized, culture-specific expression that B1 learners will generally not predict from the constituents and must learn as an idiom.
Etymology
Potemkin village comes from one popular story about a Russian official, Grigory Potemkin, who built fake villages with pretty fronts and actors to impress the Empress on her visit. So today Potemkin village means 'something that looks good on the outside but is actually false or hides a problem'.