as in victim
a person or thing taking the blame for others
the sandlot ball players wanted the littlest kid to be the fall guy for the broken window, figuring that he'd have the best chance of escaping punishment
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fall guy
In San Diego, he was doomed by an ownership change, becoming a convenient fall guy for delusional former Miami Dolphins executive Mike Dee.
—
Troy Renck, Denver Post, 4 Dec. 2025
The perfect fall guy Hayes’ lawsuit paints a damning picture of how UBS allegedly planned his downfall.
—Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2025
Which makes Ten Hag an invaluable fall guy.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025
The Bellows fall guy here is Darrin’s boss, Larry Tate, who suspects something but can never prove it.
—Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fall guy
Troy Renck, Denver Post, 4 Dec. 2025
The perfect fall guy Hayes’ lawsuit paints a damning picture of how UBS allegedly planned his downfall.
—Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2025
Which makes Ten Hag an invaluable fall guy.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025
The Bellows fall guy here is Darrin’s boss, Larry Tate, who suspects something but can never prove it.
—Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fall guy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fall guy
Noun
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Nataliia had gone to the bus station, where soldiers were spraying foam to contain the nuclear fallout, and to the hospital, where men in white coats were unloading victims on stretchers from the backs of ambulances.—
Lizzie Johnson,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
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At the time, Esperanza-Pacheco was working as a pastor at God’s Lighthouse of Truth in Richmond, where the victim and her family were members and had developed a friendship with him.—
Jason Green,
Mercury News,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Looking for an excuse to eat, drink and be merry this weekend?—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2026
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At Dos Pueblos High in Goleta, baseball coach George Hedricks needed no excuses to start freshman Mattias Di Maggio, considering last name of DiMaggio is one of the best baseball names in the history of the sport.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The middle class or big corporations don’t want to become the mayor’s whipping boy.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
20 Feb. 2026
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There will always be whipping boys at the World Cup, a team who arrive underprepared or in chaos of some description.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
13 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Birría begins with a whole young goat that Oceguera picks up from Nea Agora Packing on Taylor Street, as his parents did.—
Louisa Kung Liu Chu,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
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Power outages also prevent Obiols Sobredo from grinding food for his goats, which produce less milk because of insufficient nutrition.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Sending out the scapegoats in a van advertising unemployed coaches is next-level stuff.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
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But the good times ended when Nirvana’s label reps decided the album sounded too raw for mainstream consumption and allegedly positioned Albini as a scapegoat for a potentially bad-sounding record.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
20 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fall guy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fall%20guy. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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