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Something or someone that appears powerful, strong or threatening but is in reality weak, ineffective, or unable to withstand challenge.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sheep in wolf's clothing
Antonyms: wolf in sheep's clothing
the nature of a person or organization that appears powerful but is actually powerless and ineffectual
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he reminded Mao that the paper tiger had nuclear teeth
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: powerlessness, impotence, impotency
A calque from Chinese 紙老虎/纸老虎 (zhǐlǎohǔ), a phrase popularized by Mao Zedong, but of pre-modern origin. An English translation first appeared in an book in 1828 by British missionary and lexicographer Robert Morrison.
Across languages
Translations
36 source translations are retained for this English entry.
-
Cebuano:
tigre nga papel
— paper tiger
-
Chinese:
好哄頭 /好哄头
(hó-hán-thâu)
— paper tiger
-
Chinese Mandarin:
紙老虎 /纸老虎
(zhǐlǎohǔ)
— paper tiger
-
Danish:
papirtiger
— paper tiger
-
Dutch:
papieren tijger
— paper tiger
-
Esperanto:
papera tigro
— paper tiger
-
Finnish:
paperitiikeri
— paper tiger
-
French:
tigre de papier
— paper tiger
-
French:
colosse aux pieds d'argile
— paper tiger
-
Galician:
tigre de papel
— paper tiger
-
Georgian:
ქაღალდის ვეფხვი
(kaɣaldis vepxvi)
— paper tiger
-
German:
Papiertiger
— paper tiger
-
Greek:
χάρτινη τίγρη
(chártini tígri)
— paper tiger
-
Hebrew:
רוח וצלצולים
— paper tiger
-
Indonesian:
harimau kertas
— paper tiger
-
Irish:
tíogar páipéir
— paper tiger
-
Italian:
tigre di carta
— paper tiger
-
Italian:
scatola vuota
— paper tiger
-
Italian:
guappo di cartone
— paper tiger
-
Italian:
parla-parla
— paper tiger
-
Italian:
quaquaraquà
— paper tiger
-
Japanese:
張り子の虎
(hariko no tora)
— paper tiger
-
Khmer:
ខ្លាក្រដាស
(klaa krɑdaah)
— paper tiger
-
Korean:
종이호랑이
(jong'ihorang'i)
— paper tiger
-
Malay:
harimau kertas
— paper tiger
-
Norwegian Bokmål:
papirtiger
— paper tiger
-
Polish:
papierowy tygrys
— paper tiger
-
Portuguese:
tigre de papel
— paper tiger
-
Russian:
бума́жный тигр
(bumážnyj tigr)
— paper tiger
-
Spanish:
tigre de papel
— paper tiger
-
Swedish:
papperstiger
— paper tiger
-
Tagalog:
tigreng papel
— paper tiger
-
Tausug:
halimaw kātas
— paper tiger
-
Thai:
เสือกระดาษ
(sʉ̌ʉa-grà-dàat)
— paper tiger
-
Turkish:
kağıttan kaplan
— paper tiger
-
Ukrainian:
паперо́вий тигр
(paperóvyj tyhr)
— paper tiger
