stooge

noun \ ˈstüj \

|Updated on: 27 May 2018

Examples: stooge in a Sentence

Definition of stooge

1 a : one who plays a subordinate or compliant role to a principal

b : puppet 3

2 : straight man

3 : stool pigeon 1

See stooge defined for English-language learners

See stooge defined for kids

Examples of stooge in a Sentence

a gangster and his stooges
He's just a stooge for the oil industry.

Recent Examples of stooge from the Web

On March 14, 2017, Conservative Review, a Web site that opposed the Iran deal, published an article portraying Nowrouzzadeh as a traitorous stooge.

— evan osnos, The New Yorker, "Trump vs. the “Deep State”," 14 May 2018
Alan Dershowitz, a Fox News legal analyst and frequent Trump stooge, scolded Hannity during his own show on Monday night, reasoning that Hannity's silence, at the very least, creates the appearance of impropriety.

— jay willis, GQ, "Fox News Was Always Going to Enable Sean Hannity," 18 Apr. 2018
Most of the candidates are familiar Kremlin stooges, such as far-right hooligan Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who has run in all but one of the country’s post-Soviet presidential elections, and communist Pavel Grudinin, who runs a farm named after Lenin.

— chris miller, WSJ, "Is Putin Repeating the Mistakes of Brezhnev?," 9 Mar. 2018
In other words, Trump is merely a useful stooge in the Kremlin’s grand design to encourage NATO disunity, U.S. isolationism and the breakup of Europe.

— owen matthews, Newsweek, "How Vladimir Putin Is Using Donald Trump to Advance Russia's Goals," 29 Aug. 2016
Trump’s hypothetical stooge at the Justice Department would have to not just be willing to dismiss Mueller, but to affirmatively act to shut down (or at least, rein in) his investigation and the seemingly separate Cohen probe.

— andrew prokop, Vox, "Trump would love to fire Mueller. But here’s why he’s been afraid to so far.," 12 Apr. 2018
Detractors have accused Mousa of being a stooge candidate, sanctioned by the regime to give the election a veneer of legitimacy.

— sheena mckenzie, ian lee and sarah el sirgany, CNN, "Egyptian President Sisi wins second term with 97% of vote," 2 Apr. 2018
Back then, Putin cast the mostly urban middle class protesters as Western stooges, part of a spoiled elite at odds with the country’s majority.

— Washington Post, "Russia’s Putin takes his campaign to leading industrial town," 6 Mar. 2018
Competing against hardcore fans like Parzival and Art3mis is an evil corporation called IOI, which is run by a fun-hating capitalist stooge named Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn, doing his usual sneering-villain thing).

— david sims, The Atlantic, "Ready Player One Is a Mile Wide and a Pixel Deep," 29 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stooge.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of stooge

origin unknown

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1913

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

Other Performing Arts Terms

diva, dramaturgy, loge, prestidigitation, proscenium, supernumerary, zany

stooge

verb

Definition of stooge

stooged; stooging

intransitive verb

: to act as a stooge

congressmen who stooge for the oil and mineral interests
—New Republic

First Known Use of stooge

1939

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

STOOGE Defined for English Language Learners

stooge

noun

Definition of stooge for English Language Learners

: a weak or unimportant person who is controlled by a powerful person, organization, etc.
: a performer in a show who says and does foolish things that other performers make jokes about