rhizoverbBeta
DictionarymummeryEmpty show
noun

mummery

MUM-er-ee/ˈmʌməri/

A showy but meaningless display of ceremony or pretence.

The elaborate ribbon-cutting on empty ground is meaningless mummery.

A pompous ribbon-cutting ceremony for nothing: a formally dressed woman solemnly snips a ribbon stretched between two freestanding posts on otherwise empty ground, while a formally dressed man presents the loose ribbon end on a velvet cushion with exaggerated gravity.
Etymology
mummeryOld Frenchmasked performance

Mommerie belonged to masked performance, and mummery initially meant a show of that kind. The theatrical sense became a disparaging label for ceremony or pretense treated as mere performance.

In context

Allellu25:32
These projectors had contrived to tag their peculiar nostrums to the mummery of masonry, and were even allowed to twist the masonic emblems and ceremonies to their purpose
Proofs of a Conspiracy [Part 1 of 2] by John Robison | Full Audiobook, Read-Along

More examples

  • The grand speeches are pure mummery; no one intends to act.
  • He has little patience for the mummery of official receptions.
  • Their public consultation is mummery; the decision is already final.

Forms

mummery · mummeries

Similar words

charade
Emphasizes deliberate pretense rather than elaborate, empty ceremony.
pageantry
Emphasizes elaborate spectacle without necessarily suggesting it is meaningless.