empty suit

noun

An ineffective or incompetent person in a place of authority.

“John Doe is an empty suit running on an anti-populist platform.”

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Meanings

nounempty suit (plural empty suits)

plural empty suits

  1. alsoderogatoryidiomaticslanggovernmentAn ineffective or incompetent person in a place of authority.
  2. governmentA politician who has not fulfilled any campaign promises.

    John Doe is an empty suit running on an anti-populist platform.

Origin

Derived from unfavorable observations that ineffective professionals are memorable only for their attire and not their accomplishments at the workplace. First use appears c. 1950 in the New York Times.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

empty suit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empty%20suit

MLA

“empty suit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empty%20suit. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “empty suit,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empty%20suit.

Source: empty suit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.