smoke and mirrors

plural noun

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of smoke and mirrors

: something intended to disguise or draw attention away from an often embarrassing or unpleasant issue —usually hyphenated when used attributively

Recent Examples of smoke and mirrors from the Web

This lack of transparency is relevant because CFIUS’s actions are an important part of the global M&A process, where clear signals are preferred to smoke and mirrors.

— aaron pressman, Fortune, "Data Sheet—The Merits of Blocking Broadcom's Acquisition of Qualcomm," 15 Mar. 2018
No smoke and mirrors just a sweaty Shayna on the beach with her pasty skin and messy hair.

— blake bakkila, Health.com, "Real Women Are Spreading a Message About Body Positivity by Embracing Their Thighbrows," 22 Feb. 2018
Trump’s term in office may have begun with a noisy ejection from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but his big promise of protectionism has been mostly smoke and mirrors.

— david adler, New Republic, "Right-Wing Populism Can’t Fix Globalization," 21 Feb. 2018
There were signs throughout 2016 that the Razorbacks were getting wins with smoke and mirrors.

— eric bolin, ajc, "The year from hell: A horrifying timeline of Arkansas football," 24 Nov. 2017
What's interesting about Trump is that all his demagoguery is smoke and mirrors.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "How the Republic starts to fall," 30 Oct. 2017
There aren’t enough smoke and mirrors in the world.

— gary gramling, SI.com, "Packers Are In It Deep, Gurley Puts on a Show, Dolphins Find a Way," 22 Oct. 2017
Other, accents, however, are a bit more in the realm of smoke and mirrors.

— davey g. johnson, Car and Driver, "Model Behavior: Toyota Builds a Modern, Full-Size Tamiya Bruiser," 27 Oct. 2017
Michigan's offense has been an over-sized bag of smoke and mirrors through five weeks with almost zero substance behind it.

— nick baumgardner, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan football: What we learned, what to watch at Indiana," 8 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'smoke and mirrors.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of smoke and mirrors

1979

SMOKE AND MIRRORS Defined for English Language Learners

smoke and mirrors

noun

Definition of smoke and mirrors for English Language Learners

: something that seems good but is not real or effective and that is done especially to take attention away from something else that is embarrassing or unpleasant