lay figure

American  

noun

1. a jointed model of the human body, usually of wood, from which artists work in the absence of a living model.

2. a similar figure used in shops to display costumes.

3. a person of no importance, individuality, distinction, etc.; nonentity.

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lay figure British  

noun

1. an artist's jointed dummy, used in place of a live model, esp for studying effects of drapery

2. a person considered to be subservient or unimportant

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Etymology

Origin of lay figure

1785–95; lay, extracted from obsolete layman < Dutch leeman, variant of ledenman, equivalent to leden- (combining form of lid limb, cognate with Old English, Middle English lith ) + man man )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lay figure

Do you think that because I have adopted art as a profession that I have turned into a lay figure and have no heart at all?

From The Triumph of Jill by F.E. Mills Young

The woman is only a lay figure whom we invest with the vague splendours of our snobbish and inexperienced imagination.

From Captain Macedoine's Daughter by William McFee

There is not a lay figure in the book; all are flesh and blood creations....

From Horace Chase by Constance Fenimore Woolson

The mere mention of the rival's name sufficed to reduce Lilly to the position of nothing but a lay figure.

From The Song of Songs by Hermann Sudermann

Jenny compared it with the lay figure in the studio and smiled, thinking how funny they would look together.

From Carnival by Compton MacKenzie