Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

patsy

[pat-see] / ˈpæt si /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

As Warren Buffett wrote, “If you’ve been playing poker for half an hour and you still don’t know who the patsy is, you’re the patsy.”

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 26, 2026

Three days later, he recanted that confession and spent the rest of his life professing his innocence, claiming that he was made a patsy for the real assassin, a man he called “Raoul.”

From Slate Dec. 1, 2025

And I don’t see the party as playing the patsy, either.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 16, 2025

That’s the one in which Arthur’s trusted patsy, Patsy, slaps coconut halves together so the deluded king can pretend he has a horse.

From New York Times Nov. 16, 2023

Without even perfunctory regrets at the man’s passing, he accused Luthuli of being a patsy of the white man, mainly on the grounds that the chief had accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

As Rhodes found out, however, it's not so easy to pawn your misdeeds off on patsies.

From Salon Dec. 12, 2022

He’s thunked the thinkpiece, and it’s up to the patsies to enact it.

From The Guardian Sep. 27, 2019

“We all know life’s just a joke,” he squawks, “but those patsies think it has meaning! They’ll never get the gag, not even when they’re hit by the punch line. Lay it on! Bigly!”

From The New Yorker Jul. 18, 2019

“Everyone knows” that the Cubs’ record is legitimate because they have supposedly played a normal schedule while the Nats, we’ve told ourselves, have played patsies.

From Washington Post May 5, 2016

"But that assumption—a whole continent of patsies —simply didn't make sense."

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann




Vocabulary lists containing patsy


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training