patsy
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.
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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
After all, she played the role of the getaway driver when he fled the process server last year, so clearly she's got a history of being a willing patsy for her husband's shady behavior.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2023
Had Henry intended to make me the patsy if his plan had fallen through?
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
As Rhodes found out, however, it's not so easy to pawn your misdeeds off on patsies.
From Salon ● Dec. 12, 2022
England entertain Ireland in round four before heading for Paris on the final weekend, possibly as the patsies for a crowd expecting the first Grand Slam since 2010.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2022
“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
Managers have always been disposable patsies, balm to the ire of the crowds, a stick to be waved, vaguely, at the players.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 24, 2017
"But that assumption—a whole continent of patsies —simply didn't make sense."
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Vocabulary lists containing patsy
