window dressings

noun

plural of window dressing
as in facades
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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Example Sentences

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 dressings Those side-story quests are always guaranteed to be different narrative window dressings on time trials. — Adam Ismail, The Drive, 14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for window dressings
facades
Noun
  • With rusted machinery and derelict buildings, the quiet silhouette of Kennecott's faded crimson facades are all that remains of this town weathered by harsh Alaskan winters.
    — Kieron Marchese, Architectural Digest, 27 July 2026
  • Behind the polished facades, roughly nine out of ten were privately exhausted, unwell, or both, and had normalized that reality as an occupational hazard.
    — Nell Derick Debevoise Dewey, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
Definition of facades

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window dressing
window dressings
windows
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Cite this Entry

“Window dressings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/window%20dressings. Accessed 28 Jul. 2026.

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