Man of straw Meaning, Definition & Usage
Definitions
- a puppet; one who is controlled by others; also, one who is not responsible pecuniarily.
Definitions
- an effigy formed by stuffing the garments of a man with straw; hence, a fictitious person; an irresponsible person; a puppet.
now usu. straw man, as in set up a straw man; used in disputation. Typically, one party accuses an opponent of setting up a straw man, meaning that the opponent is distorting his true opinion in order to make it look absurd.