fig leaf
nounEtymology From Middle English *figge leef (attested in the plural figge leves), a partial calque of Old English fīclēaf (“fig leaf”). By surface analysis, fig + leaf.
1
A leaf of the fig plant.
2
A representation of leaf of a fig plant used to cover the genitals of a nude figure in a work of art (alluding to Genesis iii 7, in which Adam and Eve use fig leaves to hide their nakedness).
- This figleaf morality expresses a very unhealthy mental attitude.1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 107:
3
Figuratively Anything used to conceal something undesirable or that one does not want to be discovered.
- True, David Brog, one of the organizers of last week’s conference, insisted that national conservatives are not anti-immigrant. But this is a fig leaf. [University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy] Wax explicitly made an argument for limiting the number of nonwhites entering the US.2019 July 24, David Austin Walsh, “Flirting With Fascism”, in Jewish Currents:
- In fact, speaking of paedos, the prime minister chose to use one as a figleaf.2022 February 1, Marina Hyde, “Never mind wine fridges, the Tory party is drunk on Kool-Aid”, in The Guardian:
- Derived terms
- figleaf, fig-leafed, fig-leaf gourd, fig-leaf squash, fig-leaved