fall guy

plural fall guys · alternative fall-guy · alternative fallguy

1. derogatoryinformalsometimesOne who is gullible and easily duped.

   Synonyms: dupe, patsy, chump, chumpion, cousin, cull, cully, dupe

2. derogatoryinformalsometimesA scapegoat.

   Marples, who later fled to Monaco to escape prosecution for fraud, was the driving force behind The Reshaping of British Railways report published on March 27 1963. Dr Richard Beeching [who wrote the report] was just his fall guy.

   2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50

   1 more example

   Clemons's supporters have over the years given a different rendition of events. In the racially heated atmosphere of St Louis in the early 1990s, they say, Clemons was made the fall guy. Of the four men who were charged with the murders, the three black men were all put on death row while the one white man is now free on parole.

   2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: patsy, sacrificial lamb, escapegoat, folk devil, goat, Joe Soap, patsy, scapegoat