(a.) Contrived for the purpose of making a show, or gaining applause; deceptive; unreal.
Example Sentences:
(1) 'Fashionable theories and permissive claptrap set the scene for a society in which old values of discipline and restraint were denigrated.'
(2) Responding to May’s comments, the Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, called the slogan “jingoistic claptrap” and said it showed no further policy development.
(3) The fact that he chose possibly the least suitable place, time and context to utter his claptrap, only to fall asleep a little later during the Milan opening of the Shoah museum at which he was attending, might show that he is not as in control of the headlines as he used to be.
(4) Visitors to the US theme park will get "a noisy American" experience, with "claptrap", says Berger, noting that "Harry Potter fans are very passionate people.
(5) UK will have under 18 months to reach deal, says EU Brexit broker Read more The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, called the slogan “jingoistic claptrap” and said it showed no further policy development.
(6) To Marr’s perfectly reasonable questions he cried: “BBC claptrap!” God knows, the mayor can turn on the charm like no other politician.
(7) Thus the usual claptrap about "diversity" being something to celebrate is meaningless when it is not publicly acknowledged.
(8) At a recent sermon in Trinity Wall Street in New York City, supposedly the richest Anglican parish in the world, Welby said: “The old sermons that we have heard so often in England, which I grew up with – which if you boiled them down all they effectively said was, ‘Wouldn’t the world be a nicer place if we were all a bit nicer?’ – that is the kind of moral claptrap that Jesus does not permit us to accept.” Welby sounds confused here but since he is by no means an idiot it’s worth trying to think about what it is that makes social media destructive in a way that’s slightly different to all the other ways people can hurt one another.
(9) Defending these changes has spurred local government minister Brandon Lewis to new heights of claptrap.
(10) He went on: "His Thatcherite claptrap shows that this country has passed into the hands of an out-of-touch, unaccountable elite.
(11) It's reprehensible that he talks such claptrap about a policy that is divisive, illogical, illiberal, hypocritical and intended as Valium for the Tory shires hyperventilating over cohabitation with the Liberal-Democrats.
(12) He said: "We should not fall for the Tory claptrap that we left Britain broke and broken."
(13) But bad ideas do thrive in conditions of maximum claptrap.
(14) While most office holders probably don't believe the "reactionary and paranoid claptrap" they peddle, "they cynically feed the worst instincts of their fearful and angry low-information political base".
(15) More importantly these corporations, whether they're selling information or consumer goods, collude in a pervasive myth and toil to keep us uninformed on important matters such as the environment, economic inequality, and distracted by vapid celebrity claptrap.
(16) Don't look for consistency, either: MacMillan could veer between genius, excess and claptrap in a trice – and deciding which is which still divides opinion to this day.
(17) School architecture is just more highfalutin liberal claptrap, governors are " local worthies seeking a badge of status and the chance to waffle about faddy issues ", the national curriculum is a ball and chain, and teachers are part of a leftwing conspiracy.
Trick
Definition:
(a.) An artifice or stratagem; a cunning contrivance; a sly procedure, usually with a dishonest intent; as, a trick in trade.
(a.) A sly, dexterous, or ingenious procedure fitted to puzzle or amuse; as, a bear's tricks; a juggler's tricks.
(a.) Mischievous or annoying behavior; a prank; as, the tricks of boys.
(a.) A particular habit or manner; a peculiarity; a trait; as, a trick of drumming with the fingers; a trick of frowning.
(a.) A knot, braid, or plait of hair.
(a.) The whole number of cards played in one round, and consisting of as many cards as there are players.
(a.) A turn; specifically, the spell of a sailor at the helm, -- usually two hours.
(a.) A toy; a trifle; a plaything.
(v. t.) To deceive by cunning or artifice; to impose on; to defraud; to cheat; as, to trick another in the sale of a horse.
(v. t.) To dress; to decorate; to set off; to adorn fantastically; -- often followed by up, off, or out.
(v. t.) To draw in outline, as with a pen; to delineate or distinguish without color, as arms, etc., in heraldry.
Example Sentences:
(1) Even if it were not the case that police use a variety of tricks to keep recorded crime figures low, this data would still represent an almost meaningless measure of the extent of crime in society, for the simple reason that a huge proportion of crimes (of almost all sorts) have always gone unreported.
(2) Trousers were cropped or rolled at the ankle, a styling trick that is emerging as a trend across the shows.
(3) When you score a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of a World Cup Final with tens of millions of people watching across the world, essentially ending the match and clinching the tournament before most players worked up a sweat or Japan had a chance to throw in the towel, your status as a sports legend is forever secure – and any favorable comparisons thrown your way are deserved.
(4) That was the thing that told against us in the end and we have to be serious about that.” In defence of the Corbyn camp’s plans to renationalise privatised industries, John McDonnell MP, who is the candidate’s campaign agent, said that privatisation had been “a confidence trick”.
(5) The announcement from the Congressional Budget Office, a research body, that health reform would cost $940bn (£627bn), which was less than had been expected, appears to have done the trick.
(6) It’s not going to change whether I score a hat-trick or don’t score at all.
(7) I don’t think it’s indicative of lower fish stocks, they just learned a new trick,” Mardisk F Leopold, who led the research, told the Guardian.
(8) It was his second hat-trick in four games and he has now scored 10 times in seven.
(9) "In the wake of Julio Baptista's quad-trick, which player has scored the most goals against Liverpool in one game at Anfield?"
(10) Christian Benteke has been revitalised under Sherwood and he followed up his hat-trick in last Tuesday’s 3-3 draw with Queens Park Rangers by scoring the winner here.
(11) He had to watch her score a hat-trick and lift the trophy on television instead.
(12) "So when you figure out that trick, that becomes how you attack anything bad.
(13) Highlight: Mike Magee’s opening day hat-trick against the team he ended the season with.
(14) Celebrities from Justin Bieber to Spike Lee were on hand for the opening of a spectacle that mixes circus tricks with the music of the late King of Pop – a pairing that has already proved lucrative for Cirque on the road with the arena show, Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour .
(15) Gordon Brown and David Cameron put the question of substance at the heart of the political battle yesterday, as the Tory leader accused his rival of relying on "short-term tricks" in place of long-term solutions.
(16) So it’s comforting to note that Spectre seems to be offering a significant upgrade: the trailer shows Q introducing Bond to his new ultra-speedy Aston Martin DB10, and promising it boasts a “few tricks”.
(17) It is impossible to trick your mind into veering away from the enormity of what happened in this tiny country in the centre of Africa.
(18) In the second world war, countries had their own encryption tools but now we share networks and tools, and if you can undermine the random number generator - if you can make it less random - and that’s what the NSA was doing by trying to trick, buy or persuade companies to make their encryption more breakable,” said Gellman.
(19) Facebook Twitter Pinterest China dismisses Trump call with Taiwan as ‘small trick’ However, Beijing’s public response has so far been measured, with the foreign ministry lodging a “solemn representation” with Washington and the foreign minister, Wang Yi, downplaying the development as “a petty move” by Taiwan.
(20) Take, for example, the "trick" of combining instrumental data and tree-ring evidence in a single graph to "hide the decline" in temperatures over recent decades that would be suggested by a naive interpretation of the tree-ring record.