Meanings
nounshow trial (plural show trials)
plural show trials
- lawA trial held for appearance's sake, but whose verdict is predetermined, especially a "guilty" verdict with the purpose of making an example of the accused.First known use 1937
1 more example
We demand an end to these "Revere" showtrials. The indictments were drawn through forced testimony of gay youth and coerced testimony of gay men. The indictments were inspired by those seeking to use homophobia for political purposes. The trial is now being used by those who would exploit hatred of homosexuals.
1978 December 23, John Mitzel, Charley Shively, Ed Hougen, Tom Reeves, “Boston/Boise Committee”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 22, page 5
Translations
Arabic محاكمة شكلية
- محاكمة شكليةtrial held for appearance's sake
Chinese Mandarin 擺樣子公審 /摆样子公审, 作秀公審 /作秀公审
- 擺樣子公審 /摆样子公审 (bǎiyàngzi gōngshěn)trial held for appearance's sake
- 作秀公審 /作秀公审 (zuòxiù gōngshěn)trial held for appearance's sake
Danish skueproces
- skueprocestrial held for appearance's sake
Dutch showproces
- showprocestrial held for appearance's sake
Esperanto parodia proceso
- parodia procesotrial held for appearance's sake
Finnish näytösoikeudenkäynti
- näytösoikeudenkäyntitrial held for appearance's sake
French parodie de procès
- parodie de procèstrial held for appearance's sake
German Schauprozess
- Schauprozesstrial held for appearance's sake
Greek δίκη-παρωδία
- δίκη-παρωδία (díki-parodía)trial held for appearance's sake
Hebrew משפט ראווה
- משפט ראווהtrial held for appearance's sake
Hungarian koncepciós per, kirakatper
- koncepciós pertrial held for appearance's sake
- kirakatpertrial held for appearance's sake
Icelandic sýndarréttarhöld
- sýndarréttarhöldtrial held for appearance's sake
Italian processo farsa
- processo farsatrial held for appearance's sake
Korean 보여주기 재판
- 보여주기 재판 (boyeojugi jaepan)trial held for appearance's sake
Polish proces pokazowy
- proces pokazowytrial held for appearance's sake
Portuguese julgamento encenado
- julgamento encenadotrial held for appearance's sake
Russian показа́тельный суд, показа́тельный суде́бный проце́сс
- показа́тельный суд (pokazátelʹnyj sud)trial held for appearance's sake
- показа́тельный суде́бный проце́сс (pokazátelʹnyj sudébnyj procéss)trial held for appearance's sake
- суди́лище (sudílišče)trial held for appearance's sake
Spanish farsa judicial
- farsa judicialtrial held for appearance's sake
Swedish skenrättegång, skenprocess
- skenrättegångtrial held for appearance's sake
- skenprocesstrial held for appearance's sake
- skådeprocesstrial held for appearance's sake
Turkish göstermelik duruşma
- göstermelik duruşmatrial held for appearance's sake
Ukrainian показо́вий проце́с
- показо́вий проце́с (pokazóvyj procés)trial held for appearance's sake
Cite this entry
APA
show trial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/show%20trial
MLA
“show trial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/show%20trial. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “show trial,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/show%20trial.
Source: show trial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.