man of straw

M m

Definitions of man of straw words

noun man of straw straw man. 1
noun man of straw a person of little substance 0
noun man of straw a person used as a cover for some dubious plan or enterprise; front man 0
noun man of straw a man who cannot be relied upon to honour his financial commitments, esp because of his limited resources 0
noun man of straw A weak person. 0
noun man of straw One who is financially irresponsible. 0

before 1615

One of the 41% oldest English words

First recorded in 1615-25

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 27% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.

According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

straw man — a mass of straw formed to resemble a man, as for a doll or scarecrow.
tin god — a self-important, dictatorial person in a position of authority, as an employer, military officer, critic, or teacher.
cover — If you cover something, you place something else over it in order to protect it, hide it, or close it.
front — the foremost part or surface of anything.
paper tiger — a person, group, nation, or thing that has the appearance of strength or power but is actually weak or ineffectual.