Standard Lemma guide

tin-pot

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɪnpɒt/
  • General-American: /ˈtɪnˌpɑt/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of inferior quality; shoddy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, informal, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ass, bad, base, below par, bottom-shelf, BTEC, bum, cheap, cheap and nasty, cheapshit, cheesy, chintzy, coffee-and, crap, crappo, crappy, craptastic, crapperific, craptabulous, craptacular, cruddy, crummy, dogwater, drecky, flimsy, fourth-rate, gash, garbage, god-awful, inferior, lousy, low, low-grade, low-quality, low-rent, made in China, mid, naughty, one-star, poor, poor man's, pound-shop, punk, rinky-dink, ropy, rubbish, sad, schlocky, scrubby, second-rate, shoddy, slazy, slight, slim, subpar, shit, shite, shitty, substandard, ticky-tacky, tenth-rate, third-rate, tin-pot, trash, trashy, under par, woeful, wretched

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Insignificant or minor, especially in an amusing and petty manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, informal, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: base, contemptible, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, foolish, for the birds, futile, frivolous, idle, ignorable, immaterial, inconsequential, inconsiderable, indifferent, insignificant, like a fart in a windstorm, meager, mean, minor, miserable, negligible, nothingburger, nondescript, null, paltry, petty, picayune, picayunish, piddling, piddly, pissant, pissass, piteous, pitiful, pointless, silly, simple, slight, ticky-tacky, tin-pot, trifling, trivial, two-bit, unimportant, unweighty, vain, worthless, wretched

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A tin-pot dictator.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From tin + pot, referring to the cheapness and poor quality of pots made from tin or tin plate.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: евтин (evtin) — of inferior quality; shoddy
  • Bulgarian: долнокачествен (dolnokačestven) — of inferior quality; shoddy
  • Polish: lichy — of inferior quality; shoddy
  • Polish: nędzny — of inferior quality; shoddy
  • Spanish: de pacotilla — of inferior quality; shoddy