Word.ws English Dictionary

for show

for show prepositional phrase: intended to be seen but not bought or used; aesthetic as opposed to practical.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) intended to be seen but not bought or used; aesthetic as opposed to practical.
    • Wealthy Nauruans spent their abundant money on cars that were for show.
    • Guys, get down from the climbing frames! They're just there for show!2024, Teacher Tommy T, What did I miss? 🤣 #schoolmemes #school #teacher #schoolmemories #teaching #schooldays #students
  2. (idiomatic) done in an insincere or affected manner in order to impress others.

Questions about for show

What does for show mean?
For show means intended to be seen but not bought or used; aesthetic as opposed to practical.
What part of speech is for show?
For show is a prepositional phrase.

Words near for show in the dictionary

  1. for shit
  2. for shits and giggles
  3. for shits and grins
  4. for shizzle
  5. for short
  6. for show
  7. for so long a time
  8. for some reason
  9. for some reason or other
  10. for some time
  11. for someone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for show (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-for show.wav.

Cite this entry: “for show.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/for_show. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.