straw man

English

Etymology

Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1986 passim, shows first known usages for things insubstantial date to 1585-95. Universal Dictionary of the English Language, 1897, Vol 4, p. 4485, notes "man of straw" as "The figure of a man formed of an old suit of clothes stuffed with straw; hence, the mere resemblance of a man; one of no substance or means; an imaginary person."

Alternative forms

• strawman

Noun

straw man (plural straw men)

1. A doll or scarecrow (particularly one stuffed with straw).
2. An insubstantial concept, idea, endeavor or argument, particularly one deliberately set up to be weakly supported, so that it can be easily knocked down; especially to impugn the strength of any related thing or idea.
3. An innocuous person or someone of nominal or lesser importance, as a front man or straw boss.

Translations

doll or scarecrow

• Finnish: olkinukke (fi)
• French: épouvantail (fr) m, homme de paille (fr)
• German: Strohpuppe (de) f
• Greek: σκιάχτρο (el) (skiáchtro) n
• Portuguese: espantalho (pt)

• Russian: (соло́менное) чучело (ru) (čúčelo) n, пугало (ru) (púgalo) n, страшила (ru) (strašíla) m (mainly as a fairy-tale character)
• Serbo-Croatian: страшило (sh) (strašilo) n

insubstantial or weakly supported concept, idea, endeavor or argument

• Finnish: olkinukke (fi)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can

• Slovene: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: hombre de paja (es)

person of lesser importance

• Finnish: mattimeikäläinen (fi)
• French: homme de paille (fr) m

• German: Strohmann (de) m

See also

• straw poll
• straw shoe
• straw vote