Barmecide

[bahr-muh-sahyd]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a member of a noble Persian family of Baghdad who, according to a tale in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, gave a beggar a pretended feast with empty dishes.

adjective

Barmecidal.

Barmecide

/ ˈ��ɑː��ɪˌ��ɪ�� /

adjective

lavish or plentiful in imagination only; illusory; sham
a Barmecide feast

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Barmecide¹

< Persian ��ī family name, literally, offspring of Barmek, with -ide -id ¹ for Persian -ī < Arabic

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Barmecide¹

C18: from the name of a prince in The Arabian Nights who served empty plates to beggars, alleging that they held sumptuous food

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The latter piece, titled “The Barmecide Feast,” is well built — down to the corny Late Empire porcelains employed as backdrop on the luminous white set.

From

But one of them is always nailed; there is no escaping the Barmecide.

From

Everything tastes so desiccated and deodorized, the mere shadow of really substantial viands, a veritable feast of Barmecide.

From

The appetite of the reader should not be tempted by dishes, which become a mere Barmecide's feast, in this manner.

From

Is it possible the Regenerator is, after all, more tantalizing than the Barmecide?

From

Barmecidal Barmen

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