tin god

From tin's figurative sense as "worthless" or "counterfeit" in relation to silver and god's use for idols.

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tin god (plural tin gods)

1. (idiomatic) A false god, particularly a petty tyrant, a person who abuses or exceeds their authority over others in petty ways.
   • 1886, Rudyard Kipling, “[Departmental Ditties] Public Waste”, in Departmental Ditties […], New York, N.Y.: M. F. Mansfield & A. Wessels, published 1899, →OCLC:

     Wherefore the Little Tin Gods harried their little tin souls, / Seeing he came not from Chatham, jingled no spurs at his heels; […]

   • 1909, Frederic William Wile et al., Our German Cousins, page 89:

     In Prussia alone there are 492 Landräte—a sort of district commissioner—all Government officials or directly in touch with the central government, and all little tin gods in their own district.

   • 1943 March 3, Redacted Dodgeville, Wisconsin, Draft Board member, FBI report:

     [Frank Lloyd Wright] was regarded by members of the [Taliesin] fellowship as somewhat of an idol, a tin god, or a master, who could do no wrong.

   • 1967, “This Side of Paradise”, in Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 25 (television production), Paramount Pictures:

     ELIAS: Well, Doctor, I've been thinking about what sort of work I could assign you to.
     MCCOY: What do you mean, what sort of work? I'm a doctor.
     ELIAS: Not any more, of course. We don't need you. Not as a doctor.
     MCCOY: Oh, no? Would you like to see just how fast I can put you in a hospital?
     ELIAS: I am the leader of this colony. I'll assign you to whatever work I think is suitable.
     MCCOY: Just a minute. You'd better make me a mechanic. Then I can treat little tin gods like you. (He punches Elias.)

• “tin, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

• doting, tin dog