optics
n.— «In this part of the world, only a high-level resignation will do: Rumsfeld, obviously, but he, after offering an apology, swiftly visited Abu Ghraib. All over the Arab world, Rumsfeld was seen on television embracing the prison’s personnel. One Arab diplomat I talked to could not contain his dismay. The “optics,” as he called it, were awful.» —“Decline of a Doctrine and a Diplomat” by Richard Cohen in Shuneh, Jordan Washington Post May 20, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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