fall guy

noun, Slang.
1.
an easy victim.
2.
a scapegoat.
Origin
1905-10, Americanism
Examples from the web for fall guy
  • Your job is to be a fall guy, but also a cheerleader and protector.
  • Drinking might thus be a mere artifact, the fall guy for some other, as yet unknown culprit.
  • Still the safety guy is the fall guy if anything goes wrong.
  • They needed a fall guy for when the scandal inevitably came to light.
  • The act has been missing one key element: the fall guy.
  • The collocation fall guy has been much in the news lately.
  • No one wants to be the fall guy for denying a reduced speed.
  • Or, to youngsters who listened as the sounds of adulthood drift out: raucous bar talk and regulars ribbing the local fall guy.
British Dictionary definitions for fall guy

fall guy

noun (informal)
1.
a person who is the victim of a confidence trick
2.
a scapegoat
Slang definitions & phrases for fall guy

fall guy

noun phrase
  1. An easy victim; easy mark, sucker
  2. A person who willingly or not takes the blame and punishment for another's misdoings; patsy: He said he would not be the president's fall guy (1906+)

Idioms and Phrases with fall guy

fall guy

.
A scapegoat, one who is blamed for the actions of others. For example, He refused to be the fall guy for his colleagues. This expression uses fall in the sense of “consequences” or “blame,” which originated in prison slang. [ ; early 1900s ]
Also see: take the fall
.
An easy victim, one who is readily duped. For example, His friends had marked him as the fall guy—they knew he would believe their ruse. [ ; early 1900s ]