A.Word.A.Day --A word from the archives

A.Word.A.Day

Home

A Random Word From the Archives

Permanent link for this word: Potemkin village

Aug 8, 2013

This week's theme
Words coined after baddies

This week's words
Ponzi scheme
quisling
burke
Potemkin village
Typhoid Mary

Prince Potemkin

Image: Wikimedia

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Potemkin village

PRONUNCIATION:

(po-TEM-kin VIL-ij)

MEANING:

noun: An impressive showy facade designed to mask undesirable facts.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Prince Grigory Potemkin, who erected cardboard villages to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Ukraine and Crimea in 1787. Earliest documented use: 1904.

USAGE:

"In Berlin, Lindbergh's wife, Anne, was blinded by the glittering façade of a Potemkin village."
Susan Dunn; The Debate Behind U.S. Intervention in World War II; The Atlantic (Boston); Jul 8, 2013.

See more usage examples of Potemkin village in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue. -Robert King Merton, sociologist (1910-2003)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise