false dawn
noun [ C usually singular ] uk/ˌfɒls ˈdɔːn/ us/ˌfɑːls ˈdɑːn/
虚幻的希望
something that seems to show that a successful period is beginning or that a situation is improving when it is not
The increase in sales at the end of the year proved to be a false dawn. 年底销售的增长结果证明只不过是空欢喜一场。
We know the couple will end up in love, but the screenplay structure requires a false dawn before the real happy ending.
- More examples
- I worry that this is a false dawn. But I hope I am wrong.
- It was a false dawn before the country's blackest hours.
- In Vietnam's false dawn of the mid-1990s, when investors rushed in, then out again as economic reform stalled, several giant tourism projects were abandoned.
- There have been several false dawns during this crisis.