Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A petty braggart who pretends to be rich and important.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective US
cheap ,inferior ;pretentious - noun US A
contemptible or pretentious person, especially one whogambles for low stakes
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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If the U.S., France and Britain can't topple a tinhorn despot like Gadhafi who is loathed by most of his own people, the damage to Western credibility will be severe and long-lasting.
The Libya Stalemate 2011
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Any tinhorn dictator can claim (and have) secret intelligence and national security to justify war or oppression.
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Sam, a self-confessed tinhorn, “expected to find masses of silver lying all about the ground and glittering in the sun on the mountain summits.”
LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY JR. ROY MORRIS 2010
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Sam, a self-confessed tinhorn, “expected to find masses of silver lying all about the ground and glittering in the sun on the mountain summits.”
LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY JR. ROY MORRIS 2010
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El presidente wasn't the only tinhorn dictator to find succor in the U.S. when Jimmy Carter was toasting his friend Ferdinand Marcos, who had not yet been deposed.
Hillary Has More Campaign Cash On Hand Than All GOP Candidates – Combined! 2009
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Could it be the fact that more and more people are looking at his little tinhorn man-god and not liking what they see?
He Loves His Wife… if ONLY She’d Change! - Warner_Todd_Huston’s blog - RedState 2009
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What if after that president, or one of his top aides, leaves office, some tinhorn dictator in some banana republic who doesn't like him decides to put him in jail during a visit?
Sandy Goodman: Why No Foreign Judge Will Punish Bush War Criminals 2009
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It seemed as though we supported any tinhorn dicatator as long as he was anti-communist.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Why the Neglect of Communist Crimes Matters 2009
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As Narco News has documented for nine years, while the U.S. suffered under a tinhorn tyrant named Bush, the people of this hemisphere have been untying the colonial knot just fine even as Washington opposed them.
Al Giordano: Too Cute by Half on Honduras, Mr. President 2009
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They hate us because we're hyporcrits propping up tinhorn dictators in their countries at their expense.
Rudy's Strategy: Refighting The War With Liberals He Won In The 1990s 2009
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