- Potemkinvillage
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Potemkin village
n.
Something that appears elaborate and impressive but in actual fact lacks substance: “the Potemkin village of this country's borrowed prosperity” (Lewis H. Lapham).[After Potemkin, Grigori Aleksandrovich who had elaborate fake villages constructed for Catherine the Great's tours of the Ukraine and the Crimea.]
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Universalium. 2010.