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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fall guy
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
Waltz has been seen as a potential fall guy, but even before Trump’s public vote of confidence, there were questions about whether anyone would be punished, particularly because it might be seen as a capitulation to Democrats and the news media.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fall guy
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
Waltz has been seen as a potential fall guy, but even before Trump’s public vote of confidence, there were questions about whether anyone would be punished, particularly because it might be seen as a capitulation to Democrats and the news media.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fall guy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fall guy
Noun
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Lawmakers complained when the Justice Department made only a limited release last month, but officials said more time was needed to review an additional trove of documents that was discovered and to scour the records to ensure no sensitive information about victims was inadvertently released.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
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In the car, when Irvin briefly turned his attention away from the victim, the man reached for his own gun and shot Irvin three times in the head.—
Sam Charles,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In short, there’s no excuse for a lack of wellness support.—
Serenity Gibbons,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Making up excuses for things not to go perfectly would have been easy with the team dealing with illnesses.—
Anthony Solorzano,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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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
-
Gordie is invisible to his mother and a whipping boy to his father.—
Sezin Devi Koehler September 1,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Some may see me as Kyle’s goat.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Jan. 2026
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Killing goats, the gunman said acidly, still shy of convinced.—
Jonathan Miles,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
An independent central bank is a useful scapegoat.—
Raghuram Rajan,
Time,
23 Jan. 2026
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Instead of looking in the mirror, Greg had a scapegoat and blamed the entire divorce on David.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fall guy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fall%20guy. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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