fall guy

noun

a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of

• Syn:

↑chump, ↑fool, ↑gull, ↑mark, ↑patsy, ↑sucker, ↑soft touch, ↑mug

• Derivationally related forms: ↑suck (for: ↑sucker), ↑gull (for: ↑gull), ↑fool (for: ↑fool)

• Hypernyms: ↑victim, ↑dupe

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noun

1. : one who assumes or on whom is placed the blame or responsibility : one who takes the rap : scapegoat

public officials use the correctional institution as a fall guy for their own apathy, inertia, and ignorance — C.W.Leonard

becoming the fall guy for the ring which operated the houses of prostitution in that district — R.M.Lindner

2. : one that is made the victim of a swindle or deception : one that is easily gulled or victimized

his friends were laughing at him … had he been marked early for a fall guy — Irving Stone

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Slang.

1. an easy victim.

2. a scapegoat.

[1905-10, Amer.]

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fall guy noun (slang; esp N American)

1. A dupe or easy victim

2. A scapegoat

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Main Entry: ↑fall

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fall guy UK US noun [countable] [singular fall guy plural fall guys] informal

someone who is blamed or punished for something bad that someone else has done

Thesaurus: someone or something who is blamed or accused_synonym

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fall guy,

Informal. a person left to face blame or consequences of something; scapegoat: »

Things go all wrong, comically, thanks to the influence of a seedily incompetent fall guy (London Times).

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n. informal a scapegoat

he contends that he is innocent, that he was set up as a fall guy

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noun, pl ⋯ guys [count]

informal : a person who is blamed for something done by others : ↑scapegoat

His lawyers will argue that he was set up as a/the fall guy for crimes he had no part in.

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ˈfall guy [fall guy fall guys] noun (especially NAmE)

a person who is blamed or punished for sth wrong that another person has done

Syn: ↑scapegoat

 

Example Bank:

•

He realized he'd been set up as the fall guy.