tin-pot

• tinpot
• tin pot

Originated in the 1700s, from the low esteem for a tinker's wares. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪn.pɒt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪn.pɑːt/

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tin-pot (not comparable)

1. (informal) Inferior; shoddy.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:

     It was a great comfort to turn from that chap to my influential friend, the battered, twisted, ruined, tin–pot steamboat.

2. (informal) Of a country, regime etc., autocratic, especially in a petty and amusing manner.
   • 1980 March 3, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “The Official Visit”, in Yes, Minister, season 1, episode 2, spoken by Jim Hacker and Humphrey Appleby (Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne):

     Jim Hacker: Why are we having an official visit from this tin-pot little African country?
     Sir Humphrey Appleby: Minister, I beg of you not to refer to it as a tin-pot little African country. It's an LDC.

• tin-pot dictator
• tin-pot dictatorship

• tin-foil

• Tipton