show trial
noun
: a trial (as of political opponents) in which the verdict is rigged and a public confession is often extracted
Examples of show trial in a Sentence
They were forced to confess their guilt in public show trials.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Ergenekon and Sledgehammer show trials of 2008 and 2010—which used fabricated and planted evidence to frame senior military officers for attempting to overthrow the government—are only the most infamous examples of shadowy endeavors that began much earlier.
—
John Butler, Foreign Affairs, 2 Aug. 2016
Nearly 700,000 people were executed in Stalin’s 1937-38 Great Terror amid show trials and purges of his real and perceived enemies.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 23 May 2025
Cynically referring to the Trotskyists accused in the show trials that Stalin staged in Moscow as part of the Great Purge, Brecht’s comment is still debated in part because its degree of sincerity is so hard to parse.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 2025
Mao's signature carnage, the Cultural Revolution, was a chaotic orgy of violence, a world apart from Stalin's meticulously scripted Great Terror and show trials of the 1930s.
—Nick Frisch, Foreign Affairs, 18 Oct. 2017
See All Example Sentences for show trial
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John Butler, Foreign Affairs, 2 Aug. 2016
Nearly 700,000 people were executed in Stalin’s 1937-38 Great Terror amid show trials and purges of his real and perceived enemies.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 23 May 2025
Cynically referring to the Trotskyists accused in the show trials that Stalin staged in Moscow as part of the Great Purge, Brecht’s comment is still debated in part because its degree of sincerity is so hard to parse.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 2025
Mao's signature carnage, the Cultural Revolution, was a chaotic orgy of violence, a world apart from Stalin's meticulously scripted Great Terror and show trials of the 1930s.
—Nick Frisch, Foreign Affairs, 18 Oct. 2017
See All Example Sentences for show trial
Cite this Entry
“Show trial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/show%20trial. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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