Potemkin

noun
1. a battleship who's crew mutinied when the tsarist Russia fell
2. a movie made during soviet Russia depicting the mutiny on the battleship Potemkin

adjective
1. a false display of power
2. a pseudo display of control
by Avraria-Baelgun March 30, 2010
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potemkin

Fake, not real, a sham.

Comes from a legend of Governor Potemkin of Crimea who supposedly created sham villages (Potemkin Villages) to impress his queen from a distance, but this story has been overal refuted by historians.
"This is just a Potemkin Senate, the voting was fraudulent!"
by Bijhan June 24, 2006
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Potemkin Tent

When your jeans groin fold creates a tent that's bigger than your actual penis.
Look at that guy's cock! That's a Potemkin tent.
by yayeetus March 26, 2019
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potemkin bookshelf

Potemkin bookshelf: someone's bookshelf filled with books they've never read.

Books put on display only for the sake of display or some sort of vicarious status seeking.

Did you see that fake intellectuals bookshelf? He doesn't even have an idea of what's in those books on his shelf.
Did you see that fake intellectuals bookshelf? He doesn't even have an idea of what's in those books on his potemkin bookshelf.

Derived from Potemkin village: a village that is just a facade. Just for show. Enter any door and it turns out to be hollow. Totalitarians and dictator types tend to build these in order to impress their oppressed masses or convince the outside that they are a salubrious nation when they are not.
by Shawlatan July 07, 2022
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Heavenly Potemkin Buster

Potemkin's Overdrive Special in Guilty Gear Strive. He fucked your dad.
Joseph: Potemkin used his Heavenly Potemkin Buster to fuck my Dad.
Ethan: He fucked me.
Joseph: Bro what the fuck?
by Jebathaiusathan October 17, 2021
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Potemkin Understanding

It isn't just the AI models doing that. Are you sure they aren't just mocking you? Because even I struggle to tell the difference between you idiots just not understanding things and you feining ignorance.
Hym "Potemkin understanding? Sounds familiar. I don't think that's unique to AI language models. Though I don't actually agree. I have been watching the AI generated synopsis videos and they seem to be getting better over time. It's YOU that I am more concerned about. I mean, what part of don't do the weaponized schizophrenia, you need to pay me for my work, and I don't need a trial because you can just tell the truth do you not understand? Because I see this shit-lib trying to assert that all rights stem from your ability to try me and therefore you don't have to give me any of the other rights. And that is you being petty and stupid and acting in bad faith because your delusional religions and/or political philosophies have giving your too many avenues to escape culpability in your own sin or malfeasance. And that is what this is. That is what is happening here. It isn't the necessary and natural byproduct of your kids being threatened. You're being a shit. You know you're doing it. 3rd parties are pleading with you to stop. Noone is telling ME to stop. REE-lon has a black eye... I have never had a black eye in my life. I didn't poop in anyone's bed. And if I did (in abstraction) it was solid gold and worth 80 million dollars."
by Hym Iam July 05, 2025
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