for show

Idioms and Phrases

For the sake of appearances or display. For example, They put on a lavish buffet, mainly for show , or The police pretended to jail the informer, for show . [c. 1700]

Example Sentences

While some of the rhetoric is “just for show,” Neumann added, Trump and his allies are also laying the groundwork for the “next version of ‘Stop the Steal.’”

From Salon

News releases touting cross-border law enforcement collaboration, she said, were mostly for show.

From Los Angeles Times

When Bobby Locke coined his immortal phrase 'drive for show, putt for dough', it was just another flag the great South African planted in the story of golf.

From BBC

The antennae sprouting from ants’ heads aren’t just for show.

From Science Magazine

The ship’s captain, Vukota Stojanovic, later insisted that none of it was for show.

From New York Times

Related Words

• evidently
• officially
• seemingly
• supposedly