parlour trick

noun

A piece of trickery or falsehood, especially a trivial one.

Similar
party trick
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Meanings

nounparlour trick (plural parlour tricks)

plural parlour tricks

  1. figurativelyA piece of trickery or falsehood, especially a trivial one.
  2. Synonym of party trick (“a trick performed for entertainment”).

    You may be nearly omnipotent—and I don't deny that your parlor tricks are very impressive—but morality? I don't see it.

    1992, René Echevarria, “True Q”, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 6, episode 6, spoken by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Steward)

    Synonyms: party trick

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of party trick (“a trick performed for entertainment”).

Similar
party trick
Also see
party trick
Cite this entry
APA

parlour trick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parlour%20trick

MLA

“parlour trick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parlour%20trick. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parlour trick,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parlour%20trick.

Source: parlour trick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.