all sizzle and no steak

all sizzle and no steak

Disappointing or anticlimactic. Having an exciting, promising, important, or aggrandizing buildup that proves to be unwarranted. Everyone is in a panic over the supposed water shortages, but personally I think the whole thing is all sizzle and no steak. The film had a lot of hype before its release, but after seeing it, I think it's all sizzle and no steak.
See also: all, and, no, sizzle, steak
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • sizzle
  • steak
  • after the Lord Mayor's show
  • assume
  • assume airs
  • assumed
  • give (oneself) airs
  • give yourself/put on airs
  • put on airs
  • put on airs, to
References in periodicals archive
I don't understand it Soul singer Alicia Keys They are all sizzle and no steak Mariella Frostrup on David Cameron and the Tories When you get celebrities preaching, I think it is a form of bullying to the poorer people of this world TV chef Marco Pierre White
YOU SAID IT ... Quotes of the week
"They are all sizzle and no steak" - Mariella Frostrup onthe Tories.
They say
All sizzle and no steak, "M" will signify murder for auds who like a little content beneath the packaging, but magic for those who can groove on technical flash alone.
M
Much like the father and son in A Perfect Spy, they're picaresque--outsized, disproportionate, all sizzle and no steak. The motivations of Single Jr., in particular, are a mystery.
Spy for a New Millenium