From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsmokescreensmoke‧screen /ˈsməʊkskriːn $ ˈsmoʊk-/ noun [countable] 1 HIDE/MAKE IT HARD TO FIND OR SEEsomething that you do or say to hide your real plans or actions a government that rules behind a smokescreen of democracy2 PMWa cloud of smoke produced so that it hides soldiers, ships etc during a battle
Examples from the Corpus
smokescreen• Unconsciously they create a smokescreen of confusion as a defence against the fear of being taken over.• He was just firing a smokescreen of emotive words and phrases.• The administration's emphasis on the drop in inflation is just a smokescreen to divert attention from rising unemployment.• The legal advice is part of a smokescreen being put up to hide its intentions and its concern.• Britain's nuclear power programme began with a lie: it was a smokescreen for the nuclear weapons programme.• The rumors were a smokescreen for their own illegal activities.• All a casual but effective smokescreen, neatly blurring our back trail.• Why did he have to be manipulated to admit what he genuinely believed, regardless of the political smokescreens.• The Strasbourg smokescreen will be different.From Longman Business Dictionarysmokescreensmoke‧screen /ˈsməʊkskriːnˈsmoʊk-/ noun [countable] something that someone does or says to hide their real plans or actionsPeople sometimes see the budget as a smokescreen for stealth taxation. 