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Synonyms

man of straw

American  

noun

  1. straw man.

man of straw British  

noun

  1. a person of little substance

  2. Also called: straw man.  a person used as a cover for some dubious plan or enterprise; front man

  3. a man who cannot be relied upon to honour his financial commitments, esp because of his limited resources

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of man of straw

First recorded in 1615–25

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.