Dictionary

fall guy en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (derogatory, informal, sometimes) One who is gullible and easily duped.
2. (derogatory, informal, sometimes) A 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:
   • 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:

Forms

Relateds

take the fall · fall for

Synonyms

whipping boy · patsy · fall guy · saphead · simp · sap · cull · Joe Soap · juggins · sheep · live one · pigeon · rube · patsy · dotterel · sacrificial lamb · gull · goat · scapegoat · cully · fall guy · chumpion · chump · mark · mug · cousin · gudgeon · fish · dupe · stooge · easy mark · soft touch · schlemiel · stiff · escapegoat · folk devil · sucker · dupe · muggins · patsy · Simple Simon · steamer

Translations (27)

bg изкупителна жертва (a scapegoat) · es pardillo (one who is easily duped) · fr pigeon (a scapegoat) · bg наивник (one who is easily duped) · gl inxenuo (one who is easily duped) · de Buhmann (a scapegoat) · gl miñaxoia (one who is easily duped) · tr saf (one who is easily duped) · gl papaleisón (one who is easily duped) · ky жок жерден күнөөлүү (a scapegoat) · tr enayi (one who is easily duped) · tr şamar oğlanı (a scapegoat) · hu palimadár (one who is easily duped) · ru простофиля (one who is easily duped) · de Prügelknabe (a scapegoat) · tr saftirik (one who is easily duped) · de Sündenbock (a scapegoat) · es pagano (a scapegoat) · tr keriz (one who is easily duped) · ru козёл отпуще́ния (a scapegoat) · fr bouc émissaire (a scapegoat) · fr lampiste (a scapegoat) · tr günah keçisi (a scapegoat) · hu bűnbak (a scapegoat) · hu balek (one who is easily duped) · fr poire (one who is easily duped) · hu könnyű préda (one who is easily duped)