0 something that seems to show that a successful period is beginning or that a situation is improving when it is not:
1 a time in which something such as the economy seems to be getting better but in fact it is not:
In Vietnam's false dawn of the mid-1990s, when investors rushed in, then out again as economic reform stalled, several giant tourism projects were abandoned.
This, however, was a false dawn.
But unless the increase in labour costs can be restrained, this will be a false dawn.
Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a false dawn.
Alas, that was a false dawn, and the industry has continued to decline.
