fall guy
noun [C usually singular] informalDefinition
› a person who is falsely blamed for something that has gone wrong, or for a crime that they have not committed: The governor was looking for a fall guy to take the blame for the corruption scandal.Blaming and accusing
(Definition of fall guy noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse related topics
You are looking at an entry to do with Blaming & accusing, but you might be interested in these topics from the Expressing opposition & disapproval topic area:
Browse the Thesaurus
SMART Thesaurus
Synonyms and related words:
- a bad workman blames his tools idiom
- accusatory adjective
- accusing adjective
- allege verb
- ascribe sth to sth phrasal verb
- attribution noun
- blame noun
- blame verb
- condemnation noun
- contributory negligence noun
- face the music idiom
- haul sb up phrasal verb
- have sb to thank (for sth) idiom
- incriminate verb
- indictment noun
- lay sth at sb's door idiom
- lightning rod noun
- nail verb (CATCH)
- sacrificial lamb noun
- stitch sb up phrasal verb
Topic:
Blaming & accusing
Word of the Day
throw caution to the wind/winds
to do something without worrying about the risk or negative results
Blog
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
New Words
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.
