Definition of SHOW TRIAL
- ️Sun Mar 02 2025
: a trial (as of political opponents) in which the verdict is rigged and a public confession is often extracted
Examples of show trial in a Sentence
They were forced to confess their guilt in public show trials.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cynically referring to the Trotskyists accused in the show trials that Stalin staged in Moscow as part of the Great Purge, Brecht’s comment is still debated in part because its degree of sincerity is so hard to parse.
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David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 2025
Mao's signature carnage, the Cultural Revolution, was a chaotic orgy of violence, a world apart from Stalin's meticulously scripted Great Terror and show trials of the 1930s.
—Nick Frisch, Foreign Affairs, 18 Oct. 2017
Which is also why Bragg's show trial backfired, making Trump a martyr and helping propel him back into the White House (most people don't like politicized justice, and will side with the victims of it, however otherwise unsavory).
—Bradley Gitz, arkansasonline.com, 23 Dec. 2024
Dictator Stalin’s show trials and purges murdered tens of millions as documented by Robert Conquest.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 29 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for show trial
Word History
First Known Use
1928, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of show trial was in 1928
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Cite this Entry
“Show trial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/show%20trial. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
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Last Updated: 2 Mar 2025 - Updated example sentences
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