What does "mummery" mean?

Mumming; disguising oneself to perform as a mummer, or to take part in some other festivities or performance.

Mummery

Common synonyms include: abracadabra, acting, affectation, baccalaureate service, buffoonery, business.

//ˈmʌməɹi// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
Mumming; disguising oneself to perform as a mummer, or to take part in some other festivities or performance. archaic, countable, literally, uncountable
"I say the sewer thought I was dressed to bear a part in the tregetour’s mummery, and so I got admission"
2
meaningless ceremonies and flattery wordnet
3
A ridiculous or ostentatious ceremony, formerly especially of a religious nature; extravagant or hypocritical performance. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"The twentieth of September, they are bound Fast from the midnight watch to pray till morn.— More would he not disclose, or knew not more. —What precious mummery!"

"I say the sewer thought I was dressed to bear a part in the tregetour’s mummery, and so I got admission"

From Middle French momerie, mommerie, from Old French mommer, from momon. By surface analysis, mummer + -y.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.