Associations to the word «Potemkin»

Wiktionary

POTEMKIN VILLAGE, noun. (idiomatic) Any false construct devised to disguise a shortcoming or improve appearances.
POTEMKIN VILLAGES, noun. Plural of Potemkin village

Dictionary definition

POTEMKIN, noun. A Russian officer and politician who was a favorite of Catherine II and in 1762 helped her to seize power; when she visited the Crimea in 1787 he gave the order for sham villages to be built (1739-1791).

Wise words

Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us; nowhere do they touch upon absolute truth.
Friedrich Nietzsche