all fur coat and no knickers

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

all fur coat and no knickers (not comparable)

1. (UK, idiomatic, derogatory) Having a superficially positive appearance that is belied by the reality, e.g., superficially elegant and beautiful but actually common.
   • 1999, David Brock, Michael J. Powell, Christopher Robin Hinings, Restructuring the professional organization: Accounting, Health Care and Law:

     A nurse spoke for a number of her colleagues when she said that she felt that these developments were a waste of time and 'all fur coat and no knickers' (personal interview, 1994).

   • 2003, Cliff Moughtin, Urban Design: Street and Square:

     From this viewpoint some forms of Post-Modernism mean new façades for old concepts, dressing the skyscraper, or the vast supermarket in the garb of the tart - 'all fur coat and no knickers'.

   • 2005, Michael Robotham, Suspect:

     "What about the wife?"
     "Bridget. She was all fur coat and no knickers. A real social climber."
     "But you liked her?"
     "Yes."

Synonyms

• all fur and no knickers

See also

• all hat and no cattle
• all hat and no cowboy
• beauty is only skin deep
• mutton dressed as lamb