trumpery

noun

trum·​pery ˈtrəm-p(ə-)rē 

1

a

: worthless nonsense

b

: trivial or useless articles : junk

a wagon loaded with household trumpery

—Washington Irving

2

archaic : tawdry finery

trumpery adjective

Did you know?

Trumpery derives from the Middle English trompery and ultimately from the Middle French tromper, meaning "to deceive." (You can see the meaning of this root reflected in the French phrase trompe-l'oeil-literally, "deceives the eye"-which in English refers to a style of painting with photographically realistic detail.) Trumpery first appeared in English in the mid-15th century with the meanings "deceit or fraud" (a sense that is now obsolete) and "worthless nonsense." Less than 100 years later, it was being applied to material objects of little or no value. The verb phrase trump up means "to concoct with the intent to deceive," but there is most likely no etymological connection between this phrase and trumpery.

Synonyms

• applesauce [slang]
• balderdash
• baloney
• boloney
• beans
• bilge
• blah
• blah-blah
• blarney
• blather
• blatherskite
• blither
• bosh
• bull [slang]
• bunk
• bunkum
• buncombe
• claptrap
• codswallop [British]
• crapola [slang]
• crock
• drivel
• drool
• fiddle
• fiddle-faddle
• fiddlesticks
• flannel [British]
• flapdoodle
• folderol
• falderal
• folly
• foolishness
• fudge
• garbage
• guff
• hogwash
• hokeypokey
• hokum
• hoodoo
• hooey
• horsefeathers [slang]
• humbug
• humbuggery
• jazz
• malarkey
• malarky
• moonshine
• muck
• nerts [slang]
• nonsense
• nuts
• piffle
• poppycock
• punk
• rot
• rubbish
• senselessness
• silliness
• slush
• stupidity
• taradiddle
• tarradiddle
• tommyrot
• tosh
• trash
• twaddle

Examples of trumpery in a Sentence

a lot of the news pertaining to the war effort was loaded with so much trumpery that no one knew how it was really proceeding

Recent Examples on the Web

What was the strategic benefit to the US of all this geopolitical trumpery? —Peter Bergen, CNN, 28 May 2022

So will the border continue to vanish in the face of nativist backlash and a trumpery, gimcrack wall? —Felipe Fernández-Armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018

Word History

Etymology

Middle English (Scots) trompery deceit, from Middle French, from tromper to deceive

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

trumpery

noun

trum·​pery ˈtrəm-p(ə-)rē 

plural trumperies

: things of no value

trumpery adjective