straw man meaning

straw man as a noun

1. a person used as a cover for some questionable activity

   Synonyms: front man, front, figurehead, nominal head, strawman

   Type of: deceiver

2. a weak or sham argument set up to be easily refuted

   Synonyms: strawman

   Type of: specious argument

3. an effigy in the shape of a man to frighten birds away from seeds

   Synonyms: scarecrow, strawman, bird-scarer, scarer

   Type of: effigy

straw man in a sentence

• It always has to be a straw man with them.

Example sentences from Tatoeba, licensed under CC BY 2.0 FR.

How to pronounce straw man

straw man is pronounced /strɔː mæn/ in British English and /strɔ mæn/ in American English. It has 2 syllables.