From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfalse dawnˌfalse ˈdawn noun [countable] formalDISAPPOINTEDa situation in which something good seems likely to happen, but it does notThe ceasefire turned out to be another false dawn.Examples from the Corpusfalse dawn• The first quarter's salesfigures were sort of a false dawn.• The globalfund in all probability will prove to be another false dawn for the poor.