I. ˈtrəmp(ə)rē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English trompery, from Middle French tromperie, from tromper to deceive + -ie -y
1. obsolete : deceit , fraud — often used in plural
left none of his trumperies and double-dealings unrevealed — Robert Dallington
2.
a. : trivial or useless articles of equipment : bric-a-brac , paraphernalia
a wagon loaded with household trumpery — Washington Irving
farm families loaded down with balloons, dolls, and other trumpery of the pitchman — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
b. : worthless nonsense : mumbo jumbo , twaddle
a piece of propaganda trumpery — Time
the trumperies of a forced symbolism — Robert Pick
c. archaic : tawdry finery
the trumpery in my house — Shakespeare
d. dialect Britain : garden refuse : weeds
II. adjective
1. : of small worth or poor quality : tastelessly superficial : cheap , tawdry
charm primitive peoples with mirrors, glass beads, and other trumpery baubles
the demands mankind makes of fiction may be slight, trumpery , ridiculous, or meretricious — Bernard De Voto
2.
a. : fraudulent , trumped-up
the trumpery pathos of a tenth-rate novel — Hugh Walpole
encourages the bringing of trumpery actions … even though no damage has been suffered — Manchester Guardian Weekly
b. : worthy of contempt : despicable
seemed in her own eyes both deluded and … trumpery — Elizabeth Taylor
encouraged two or three trumpery fellows … to cut scurvy jokes at my expense — George Borrow