empty suit

American  

[emp-tee soot] / ˈɛmp ti ˈsut /

noun

Slang.

1. an executive, manager, or official regarded as ineffectual, incompetent, or lacking in leadership qualities such as creativity and empathy.

   Their executive search came up with one empty suit after another.

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empty suit Idioms  

1. An unimportant person; also, a phony. For example, Don't pay any attention to him—he's just an empty suit, or She acts as though she knows what she's doing, but she's really an empty suit. This graphic expression calls up the image of an empty suit of clothes. [c. 1970]

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Etymology

Origin of empty suit

First recorded in 1950–55; empty ( def. ) + suit ( def. ) (in the sense “faceless decision maker”)

Example Sentences

Jessie saying "night night" and giving a salute to an empty suit of armour on her way out of the castle one evening was perhaps the epitome of her brilliant eccentricity.

From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026

He's an empty suit of plastic emotions bound in hubris and anger.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2024

When Tom learns Shiv is going to vote against GoJo, he confesses to her that he is Matsson’s CEO of choice and she rages, calling him an empty suit.

From New York Times • May 28, 2023

Mr. Ossoff, meanwhile, is presenting a clean-cut look, offering himself up as a policy-wise technocrat and pushing back against attempts to cast him as an empty suit.

From Washington Times • Dec. 23, 2020

He’s a scarecrow, an empty suit of straw.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin