empty suit

noun

: an ineffectual executive

Examples of empty suit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Shiv is aghast and, before stomping off, calls Tom an empty suit. Anne Branigin, Washington Post, 29 May 2023 Clinton ended up being an empty suit. D. Roger Pederson, Star Tribune, 18 July 2021 What an overpaid empty suit. Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 24 Sep. 2020 The conference commissioner is an empty suit. John Canzano, oregonlive, 24 Sep. 2020 Joe Biden is an empty suit. Fox News, 10 July 2020 Legendary’s Draemond Winding is not a con man, just an empty suit—Goliath with a sales pitch. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2023 Instead, she’s hid behind her spokespeople like an empty suit in charge of an underperforming office. John Canzano, oregonlive, 23 Oct. 2020 Trump’s team has tried to paint Biden as an empty suit trying to disguise the threat of socialism. Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 29 Sep. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'empty suit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of empty suit was in 1950

Dictionary Entries Near empty suit

Cite this Entry

“Empty suit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empty%20suit. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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