useful idiot
Americannoun
-
useful idiots
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Now, most anyone who helped themselves to an extra Thanksgiving serving of Big Tech probably feels like a useful idiot.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
Her conclusion was startling, her tone defiant: “Put me wherever you want: misguided socialist, toothless humanist, naïve novelist, useful idiot, apologist, denier, ally, contrarian, collaborator, traitor, inexcusable coward.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2025
When Mr Pickard quit the bank last year, he told the Financial Times that he didn't want to be used as a "useful idiot".
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
Carlson was called a "useful idiot" by many observers, a phrasing that suggests he might have been sincerely confused about whether an expensive neighborhood in Moscow was representative of the entire nation.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2024
He was a most intelligent and useful idiot.
From Round the Block by John Bell Bouton
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
