empty suit

empty suit

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empty suit
noun
: an ineffectual executive

Examples of empty suit in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
And Barry the man, especially during the 10-year height of his crime spree, remains a cipher, an empty suit, a literary type rather than a real character — a figure bereft of purpose, ideas and compelling pathos.
—Carl Hoffman, Washington Post, 24 June 2024
Seinfeld plays Bob Cabana, the company’s head of development (loosely based on William Post), and Jim Gaffigan is Edsel Kellogg III, the head of the company, who’s still just a blowhard of an empty suit because all his success is inherited.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 3 May 2024

Word History
First Known Use
1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of empty suit was in 1950
See more words from the same year
Rhymes for empty suit
absolute
arrowroot
attribute
bitterroot
constitute
convolute
destitute
disrepute
dissolute
execute
institute
involute
Browse Nearby Entries
empty out
empty suit
empty threat
Cite this Entry
Style

MLA
“Empty suit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empty. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.

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