How to Use smoke and mirrors in a Sentence

smoke and mirrors

plural noun
Definition of smoke and mirrorsnext
  • And that's why this is smoke and mirrors from the Democrats.
    — Marisa Schultz, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2021
  • Some use smoke and mirrors to hide the lack of substance.
    — John Brandon, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2021
  • No smoke and mirrors just a sweaty Shayna on the beach with her pasty skin and messy hair.
    — Blake Bakkila, Health.com, 22 Feb. 2018
  • That truth just has to come with more than smoke and mirrors and Lemon Pledge–scented beets.
    — Alicia Kennedy, Bon Appétit, 1 July 2022
  • Any offers that pop up now might just be smoke and mirrors.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 22 Feb. 2021
  • During lock down, all the smoke and mirrors of the industry went away.
    — Spin Staff, SPIN, 19 Apr. 2022
  • The month of October is going to feel a bit like smoke and mirrors.
    — Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Dec. 2022
  • Much of what was being touted turned out to be smoke and mirrors.
    — Elizabeth Weise, azcentral, 15 June 2018
  • Those questions are all smoke and mirrors to push the subject aside, put it on the back-burner.
    — Dan Greene, SI.com, 9 Feb. 2018
  • That's what the smoke and mirrors of television does to people.
    — Michael Saponara, Billboard, 3 May 2018
  • But never forget that all of that is just smoke and mirrors.
    — Sacha Maric, Allure, 6 Oct. 2017
  • Both teams have been winning with smoke and mirrors thanks to injuries.
    — Scott Miller, New York Times, 3 June 2023
  • Further, beyond the smoke and mirrors, the truth is that the awards, the dresses and the parties are all meant to be a marketing tool.
    — Lindzi Scharf, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2021
  • Even the quality of the things that did get modernized seems like smoke and mirrors.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2022
  • Snoop Dogg’s apparent farewell to weed was all smoke and mirrors.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2023
  • Prepare for a dive into the world of aviation dark arts—of smoke and mirrors, acid, and lasers.
    — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, 15 Nov. 2022
  • This is the time where the places that were operating kind of with smoke and mirrors can’t stay alive anymore.
    — Mark Kurlyandchik, Detroit Free Press, 14 Oct. 2020
  • But behind all the smoke and mirrors, this is how these arrangements work.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 10 June 2022
  • Other, accents, however, are a bit more in the realm of smoke and mirrors.
    — Davey G. Johnson, Car and Driver, 27 Oct. 2017
  • To that end, some felt that the Eagles defense was little more than smoke and mirrors, which seems a bit unfair.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Other great reads Snoop Dogg’s apparent farewell to weed was all smoke and mirrors.
    — Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2023
  • That’s smoke and mirrors, and the stakes are too high — not only for the soul of America, but for each and every one of ours, who gave in to this culture of death.
    — Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 17 Aug. 2020
  • There were signs throughout 2016 that the Razorbacks were getting wins with smoke and mirrors.
    — Eric Bolin, ajc, 24 Nov. 2017
  • There, is of course, some classic Washington smoke and mirrors here.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 28 June 2021
  • But this was a night of heavenly smoke and mirrors, and worshiping at the altar of fashion.
    — New York Times, 8 May 2018
  • This all appears to be smoke and mirrors for the boring truth: that Middleton and Markle are your standard sisters-in-law.
    — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, 27 Nov. 2018
  • The pandemic gave me so much time to kind of peel back what's smoke and mirrors and what's really important.
    — Carli Whitwell, refinery29.com, 19 May 2022
  • Or, the worst-case scenario in which an agency’s promises of performance turn out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors?
    — Brian Burt, Forbes, 18 May 2022
  • To Galloway, Palantir is just more Silicon Valley smoke and mirrors (even if it is no longer based in the valley).
    — Michael Steinberger, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Since then, close-up has turned out to be better suited for online video and social media than the smoke and mirrors that once prevailed.
    — Shuja Haider, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smoke and mirrors.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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