ring hollow

ring hollow (third-person singular simple present rings hollow, present participle ringing hollow, simple past rang hollow, past participle rung hollow)

1. (idiomatic) To seem to be false or implausible; to be unconvincing.
   • 1901, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 9, in The Hero:

     In his own ears the words he spoke rang hollow, awkward, even impertinent. He could say nothing which did not seem hideously supercilious.

   • 2025 April 21, Peter Stanford, “Pope Francis obituary”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Recognising your mistake and atoning for it is, of course, to be applauded, but after all the decades of cover-up of sexual abuse by clergy, it rang hollow for many.

• ring false

• ring true