patsy
/ˈpætsi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.12 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A diminutive of the female given name Patricia.
name
A diminutive of the male given name Patrick.
name
A diminutive of the female given name Martha.
noun
A person who is easily manipulated, victimized, or made to take the blame for something.
Derogatory; Informal
noun
A conspirator, secretly designated by co-conspirators to take full blame and punishment for a wrongdoing, particularly an assassination; a fall guy.
Example Sentences
- "And now it's quite obvious that instead of Mr Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney listening attentively to Mr Blair's sage advice, they've simply been using him as a patsy—a convenient fig-leaf."
- "Patsying me! Where the hell does he come off? Who ever heard of him? He can patsy the leaders in those night club dives but he can't do that here and get away with it."
- "I was in no mood for patsying around, and I let him have it with both barrels."