in a trench coat

prepositional phrase

Pretending to be something greater, especially unconvincingly.

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. humorousslangPretending to be something greater, especially unconvincingly.

    Canada is three mining companies in a trench coat, wearing a stupid hat and carrying a gun.

    2020 February 19, Alex V Green, “Canada is Fake”, in The Outline, archived from the original on 21 Feb 2020

Origin

From a pop culture cliché in which two children, one on the other's shoulders, wear a long coat in order to pass for one adult to enter an R-rated movie theater.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

in a trench coat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20trench%20coat

MLA

“in a trench coat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20trench%20coat. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in a trench coat,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20trench%20coat.

Source: in a trench coat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.