show trial
8
8.6
- noun
- /ʃoʊ traɪəl/
- Literature
- As a veteran propagandist, I must warn you against gestures that might suggest a media show trial.
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Watch on YouTubeNow, being from the Soviet Union, I love a good show trial.
- Now, being from the Soviet Union, I love a good show trial.
- So this was such a flawed investigation that, you know, it just was kind of like a show trial.
- There was the the trial, the show trial in New York Fork.
- Not, you know, hour long or two hour long show trials.
Examples
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The second show trial, on 25-30 January 1937, was to set the stage further for the dramatic trial of 1938.
Academic text (1991) -
From the defense perspective, I immediately said this is a political show trial.
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This is going to be a show trial.
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The first World Justice show trial.
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What we should not do, however, is hold a show trial in Congress.
Blog text (15) -
Or is your role just a formality in a show trial whose outcome is already decided?
Fiction book (1998) -
A purge of the Red Army preceded the third and last show trial.
Academic text (1991) -
Like those poor souls parading through the 1930s Soviet show trials, we silently acquiesce in the spectacle.
Academic text (1995) -
Bo, of course, was purged, ostensibly for official corruption, after being given a high-profile show trial in August 2012, and was then convicted and sentenced to 22 years behind bars the following month.
Academic text (2014) -
The regime organized a show trial to display its power and intimidate dissenters.
Synonyms
∞
3.7
An official court hearing to decide if someone is guilty or innocent
Antonyms
How Fair
80
3.2
- Formal
759
3.6
- Informal
6
8.8
- Literature
8
8.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The combination of 'show' (an ostentatious or deceptive display) + 'trial' (a court procedure) yields a trial staged as a public display, so the core meaning is directly and compositionally derivable from the constituents. The stronger implication that the verdict is predetermined is a pragmatic/political nuance learners might not infer immediately, but the basic idea of a staged/display trial is transparent to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
The noun show trial comes from the idea of turning a real court case into a public show. Rulers would stage a trial like a performance so the accused looked guilty even when the result was fixed, so show trial means a 'staged' or 'fake' trial meant to impress or trick the public.