pinchbeck
/ˈpɪn(t)ʃbɛk
/noun [mass noun]
An alloy of copper and zinc resembling gold, used in watchmaking and cheap jewellery.
adjective
Appearing valuable, but actually cheap or tawdry.Of course, Muggeridge was unreformed, and when he actually decided to take religion seriously he was contemptuously dismissed as ‘a pinchbeck Savonarola’....
- The first had been newly choreographed by Ashton and looked for the most part like little more than a pinchbeck parody of a Soviet-style solo.
Origin
Mid 18th century: named after Christopher Pinchbeck (died 1732), English watchmaker.