mummery

But what was once the norm can now seem a kind of ableist mummery, which this production attempts to sidestep by offering a Richard with no physical impairments at all.

From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2022

Typically, contemporary novelists speak reverently of their form, as if the result were some kind of sacred object, so Alice’s position has a refreshing lack of mummery.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2021

“You know what that means,” is all he offered, and, after an evening of portentous headgear mummery, this hint at abdication should not be taken lightly.

From Slate ● Dec. 20, 2019

It's all mummery and flummery, and conducted with a winning amateurishness.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 1, 2012

When called upon to play the bear and carry off the maiden fair, he had been sullen and uncooperative, shuffling lifelessly through his paces when he deigned to take part in their mummery at all.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Nor was it ''mere timidity or fanaticism or calculated hardness: it was a deep and speculative thing: hatred of all shams, scorn of all mummeries, a bitter, merciless pleasure in the hard facts.

From Time Magazine Archive

He grew cold to newsmen, turned his press conferences into funereal mummeries, finally began canceling them altogether.

From Time Magazine Archive

To be boxed up in the midst of mummeries and lies—he would start up and pace the floor, the sweat standing on his face.

From An Ocean Tramp by William McFee

"One thing is certain," she added, to herself, as a sort of comfort, "Tita will have to do her mummeries in the garden after this."

From Anne by Constance Fenimore Woolson

To support his new character, he practised some religious mummeries; he was seen worshipping the rising and setting sun.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Isaac Disraeli