window dressing

noun

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

Definition of window dressing

1 : the display of merchandise in a retail store window

2 a : the act or an instance of making something appear deceptively attractive or favorable

b : something used to create a deceptively favorable or attractive impression

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window-dress

play \ˈwin-dō-ˌdres\ transitive verb

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window dresser

noun

See window dressing defined for English-language learners

Examples of window dressing in a Sentence

These changes are being made for a good reason. They're not just window dressing.
the crime-does-not-pay moralizing is just window dressing for nasty hard-boiled stories

Recent Examples of window dressing from the Web

To critics, all these theories are no more than window dressing for a racist system that intimidates, imprisons and kills black people indiscriminately in order to make white people feel safe.

— molly ball, Time, "Jeff Sessions Is Winning for Donald Trump. If Only He Can Keep His Job," 29 Mar. 2018
The characters are so feeble, and their stories are so inconsequential, that everything that would usually make a movie interesting becomes window dressing for… well, the window dressings...

— sarah weldon, Cosmopolitan, "20 Meanest Things Critics Are Saying About Fifty Shades Freed," 9 Feb. 2018
All this is just window dressing around the real point: Nintendo’s offering a chance to play some of its best games again, in more or less their original form.

— david pierce, WIRED, "Review: Nintendo SNES Classic Edition," 27 Sep. 2017

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

First Known Use of window dressing

1895

window dressing Synonyms

Synonyms

facade (also façade), gloss, veneer;

Related Words

cotton candy, fluff, tinsel;

fig leaf;

charade, front, guise, masquerade, pose, semblance, show;

Financial Definition of WINDOW DRESSING

window dressing

noun

What It Is

Window dressing is a term that describes the act of making a company's performance, particularly its financial statements, look attractive.

How It Works

Let's assume Company XYZ wants to look attractive to potential acquirers. It might do some window dressing by announcing much higher sales projections, obtaining and holding a lot of cash, or making other announcements that are likely to raise the stock price, even if only for a short time. The objective is to make a favorable impression on potential acquirers.

Companies are not the only ones to engage in window dressing. Mutual funds do it as well, often by cutting their losses and buying high-fliers (sometimes that are not even in the fund's investment sector) near the end of a reporting period.

Why It Matters

Window dressing is an attention-getting maneuver that can venture into unethical or illegal territory. At a minimum, the practice is generally looked upon unfavorably (after all, everyone has experienced the feeling of realizing that something isn't quite what it's cracked up to be). Nonetheless, when done carefully, window dressing can pay off by attracting customers, lenders, or investors.

Source: Investing Answers

WINDOW DRESSING Defined for English Language Learners

window dressing

noun

Definition of window dressing for English Language Learners

: the act of decorating and arranging products to display in a store window
: something that is intended to make a person or thing seem better or more attractive but that does not have any real importance or effect