show trial

noun

(especially in a totalitarian state) the public trial of a political offender conducted chiefly for propagandistic purposes, as to suppress further dissent against the government by making an example of the accused.

show trial

noun

a trial conducted primarily to make a particular impression on the public or on other nations, esp one that demonstrates the power of the state over the individual

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Word History and Origins

Origin of show trial¹

First recorded in 1945–50

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Musk, whose band of roving nerd-assassins is conducting something like a large-scale Stalinist show trial of the entire federal bureaucracy, called Navarro a “moron” who was “dumber than a sack of bricks.”

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Vardanyan has been dealt with separately, but many in Armenia see all the cases as show trials.

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As with leaders of autocratic regimes, nothing is too small or insignificant to serve as pretext for a grand show trial meant to demonstrate strong-man dominance over the military.

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“I grew up in Miami listening to the stories about the Castro show trials in Cuba,” Florida’s politically pliant Republican senator, Marco Rubio, wailed in Trump’s defense.

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They gave his grievance about his having to endure criminal prosecution credence in their story headlined “Trump tells Jersey Shore crowd he’s being forced to endure ‘Biden show trial’ in hush money case.”

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show to advantage show up

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