paper tiger

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“This,” he said, “gives me a lot of hope that the gas weapon will be not only a paper tiger but will backfire.”

From New York Times

The women’s movement, she added, was a “paper tiger” that claimed to speak for the masses but whose roar was bigger than its bite.

From Washington Post

The law "is a bit of a paper tiger and presidents have routinely run afoul of its provisions", he says.

From BBC

It appears that authoritarians both here and abroad started to buy their own propaganda about how liberal democracy is a paper tiger.

From Salon

The Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Global Times dismissed the general’s remarks, noting “the only lesson we learn is that the U.S. is a paper tiger.”

From Washington Times