window dressing

Definition of window dressingnext
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

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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 The scenarios were nothing more than window dressing—meant to evoke the chaotic night raids that would be our mission downrange. — Will MacKin, New Yorker, 28 June 2026 Sayeh believes the war has essentially destroyed what was left of the clerical establishment’s legitimacy and removed any window dressing suggesting the country wasn’t a de facto military dictatorship. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 21 June 2026 But all of that will just be window dressing. — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 11 June 2026 Everyone else is window dressing. — Literary Hub, 21 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for window dressing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for window dressing
facade
Noun
  • Underneath that façade was a sociopathic white supremacist neo-Nazi filled with hatred, fantasizing about mass murder nearly every day.
    — Asal Rezaei, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Starting in 2027, the Plaza Hotel will embark on a four-year-long renovation of its marble façade.
    — Timothy Latterner, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Window dressing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/window%20dressing. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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