window dressing

noun

1
: the display of merchandise in a retail store window
2
a
: the act or an instance of making something appear deceptively attractive or favorable
b
: something used to create a deceptively favorable or attractive impression
window-dress transitive verb
window dresser noun

Examples of window dressing in a Sentence

These changes are being made for a good reason. They're not just window dressing. the crime-does-not-pay moralizing is just window dressing for nasty hard-boiled stories
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Flagrant violations across diverse policy realms suggested that the order’s commitment to the rule of law was rhetorical window dressing. Stacie E. Goddard, Foreign Affairs, 28 July 2025 In that sense, the whole contrivance is mainly window dressing and not a feet-to-the-fire consideration. Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025 When the system does not, these concepts are nothing better than window dressing. Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025 Most investors are now looking for substance — companies that use AI not as window dressing, but as a core enabler of long-term value. Kolawole Samuel Adebayo, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for window dressing

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of window dressing was in 1850

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Cite this Entry

“Window dressing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/window%20dressing. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.

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