From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha false dawna false dawnHOPEsomething that seems positive or hopeful but really is not There was talk of share prices recovering, but that was just a false dawn. → dawn
Examples from the Corpus
a false dawn• That proved to be a false dawn, as Moravcik's replacement, McNamara, was the one who scored.• Tracers lit up the fog like a false dawn.• It was a false dawn, replaced soon after by a now starless night that was blacker than the previous hours. 