patsy

See also: Patsy

English

Etymology

The term dates back at least to the 1870s in the United States, close to the peak of Irish migration. The OED's recent revisions link Patsy with Pat and Paddy, the stereotype of the bogtrotter just off the boat. The American Heritage Dictionary and Online Etymology Dictionary quotes the OED it may derive from the Italian pazzo (“madman”), and souther Italian dialect paccio (“fool”). Another possibility is the term derives from Patsy Bolivar, a character in an 1880s minstrel skit who was blamed whenever anything went wrong, in Broadway musical comedies, for example in The Errand Boy [1904] and Patsy in Politics [1907].

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpætsi/
  • Rhymes: -ætsi

Noun

patsy (plural patsies)

  1. (informal, derogatory) A person who is easily manipulated, victimized, or made to take the blame for something.
    • 2003 March 16, Terry Jones, “Poor Tony Blair wakes up”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 October 2026:
      And now it's quite obvious that instead of Mr Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney listening attentively to Mr Blair's sage advice, they've simply been using him as a patsy—a convenient fig-leaf.
  2. A conspirator, secretly designated by co-conspirators to take full blame and punishment for a wrongdoing, particularly an assassination; a fall guy.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

patsy (third-person singular simple present patsies, present participle patsying, simple past and past participle patsied)

  1. (transitive, informal) To treat (a person) as a patsy or sucker; to pin the blame on.
    • 1939, Arthur Kober, Pardon Me for Pointing, page 124:
      Patsying me! Where the hell does he come off? Who ever heard of him? He can patsy the leaders in those night club dives but he can't do that here and get away with it.
  2. (intransitive, informal) To mess around; to waste time.
    • 2013, Tony Kelly, Red Card: The Soccer Star Who Lost it All to Gambling, page 105:
      I was in no mood for patsying around, and I let him have it with both barrels.

Anagrams

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