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Meaning of straw man

Source language: EnglishDictionary language: English

straw man

noun

Definitions

  1. The third party who makes a straw purchase for another person.

    Synonyms:straw man

noun

Definitions

  1. A doll or scarecrow, particularly one stuffed with straw.

  2. An innocuous person or someone of nominal or lesser importance, as a front man or straw boss.

  3. 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 or contrasted thing or idea.

    Antonyms:steelman
  4. An outline serving as an initial proposal for a project, usually refined iteratively.

    Example: a tentative straw-man spec

verb

Definitions

  1. To falsely attribute an insubstantial argument (a straw man argument) to another through direct declaration or indirect implication; to put words in someone's mouth.