straw man

noun

Meaning

The third party who makes a straw purchase for another person.
A doll or scarecrow, particularly one stuffed with straw.
An innocuous person or someone of nominal or lesser importance, as a front man or straw boss.
An insubstantial concept, idea, endeavor or argument, particularly one deliberately set up to be weakly supported, so that it can be easily knocked down; especially to impugn the strength of any related or contrasted thing or idea.
An outline serving as an initial proposal for a project, usually refined iteratively.
To falsely attribute an insubstantial argument (a straw man argument) to another through direct declaration or indirect implication; to put words in someone's mouth.

No prose etymology has been added yet.

No ancestor words have been linked yet.

No descendant words have been linked yet.