paper tiger

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.

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paper tiger (plural paper tigers)

1. (idiomatic) Something or someone that appears powerful, strong or threatening but is in reality weak, ineffective, or unable to withstand challenge.

   Synonym: sheep in wolf's clothing

   Antonym: wolf in sheep's clothing

   • 2008 August 23, Ian Kershaw, “The twisted road to war”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 June 2023:

     The League of Nations was by this time scarcely even a paper tiger, devoid of credibility since its divisions and pusillanimity had been so clearly laid bare following Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia in the autumn of 1935.

   • 2010 October 11, Roger Cohen, “Iran, the Paper Tiger”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 11 February 2021:

     Iran is a paper tiger, a postmodern threat: It has many uses but a third Western war against a Muslim country is a bridge too far.

   • 2025 September 27, Luke Harding, “Putin preparing to attack another European country, Zelenskyy says”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN, archived from the original on 5 November 2025:

     Trump also said Russia’s economy was in big trouble and described its military as a “paper tiger”.

• paper tiger on Wikipedia.Wikipedia