empty suit

noun

: an ineffectual executive

Examples of empty suit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The implosion of Platner’s candidacy was the perfect cocktail of consultant malpractice, empty suit authenticity, and moral expediency. — Maria Comella, Vanity Fair, 23 July 2026

In reality, Platner was the Democratic-candidate equivalent of the grinning empty suit who gets the job after a handshake because the boss likes the cut of his jib. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026

And Barry the man, especially during the 10-year height of his crime spree, remains a cipher, an empty suit, a literary type rather than a real character — a figure bereft of purpose, ideas and compelling pathos. — Carl Hoffman, Washington Post, 24 June 2024

Seinfeld plays Bob Cabana, the company’s head of development (loosely based on William Post), and Jim Gaffigan is Edsel Kellogg III, the head of the company, who’s still just a blowhard of an empty suit because all his success is inherited. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 3 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for empty suit

• absolute
• arrowroot
• attribute
• bitterroot
• constitute
• convolute
• destitute
• disrepute
• dissolute
• execute
• institute
• involute