WINDOW DRESSING Synonyms: 15 Similar Words

window dressing

noun

as in facade

a deceptively attractive external appearance the crime-does-not-pay moralizing is just window dressing for nasty hard-boiled stories

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of window dressing Skeptics may claim this as window dressing for strategic global ambitions. —

Kerry E. Ratigan, The Conversation, 15 Jan. 2026 Against Seattle, Shanahan’s trademark pre-snap window dressing meant absolutely nothing. —

Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026 Artistic Vision Put to Work Cohen’s artistic vision isn’t just aesthetic window dressing. —

Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 12 Dec. 2025 When window dressing takes away from that central conceit, what’s the point? —

Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 9 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for window dressing

Recent Examples of Synonyms for window dressing

facade

Noun

The owner, Kenneth Howell has been locked in an acrimonious battle with the city of Boise for years, after Boise staff raised concerns over temporary shoring posts bowing under the building’s weight and a crumbling facade, among other safety issues staff highlighted.

— Darin Oswald, Idaho Statesman, 3 June 2026
The record of my thinking is right there in the open, teaching me tolerance for my fumbling, training me not to hide my struggle behind a seamless façade of digital perfection.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026

Definition of facade

Browse Nearby Words

window

window dressing

window dressings

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“Window dressing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/window%20dressing. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.

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