window dressing

as in facade
a deceptively attractive external appearance the crime-does-not-pay moralizing is just window dressing for nasty hard-boiled stories

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of window dressing National Guardsmen have plenty of training and shouldn’t be depicted as political window dressing. Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 12 Mar. 2024 The series is still going strong thanks to numerous sequels and a spinoff, wading into such over-the-top territory that the initial street racing conceit is now little more than window dressing. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 20 Nov. 2024 Steichen and his staff took the best option plays from all levels of football and mixed them with NFL window dressing. Ted Nguyen, The Athletic, 22 Aug. 2024 But more celebrity window dressing would just be useless clutter obscuring the story of personal growth that’s at the heart of No Obligation. Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for window dressing

Browse Nearby Entries

Cite this Entry

“Window dressing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/window%20dressing. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!