Patsy

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpætsi/

Definitions

1. A naive person who is easily led astray or tricked by others
2. A person who is easily made the scapegoat or set up to take the blame for others' actions
3. An individual who is readily manipulated into accepting fault or responsibility unfairly

Etymology: The most striking candidate for "patsy" is a stage character, though the origin is disputed. One proposed source is Patsy Bolivar, a figure in an 1880s minstrel skit who was blamed whenever anything went wrong. Broadway musical comedies then carried the type forward, with the character appearing in shows such as "The Errand Boy" (1904) and "Patsy in Politics" (1907), so the blame-taking figure became a familiar stock type on the American stage. A second explanation looks to a stereotype rather than a character. The Oxford English Dictionary's recent revisions connect "patsy" with "Pat" and "Paddy", familiar names for Irish people and a stereotype of the newly arrived immigrant. The term is recorded in the United States from at least the 1870s, close to the peak of Irish migration, which fits that link. Its exact route into the word remains unsettled. A third possibility is Italian. Some sources suggest it may derive from Italian "pazzo" ("madman"), perhaps via a southern Italian dialect word "paccio" ("fool"). Each of these accounts offers a plausible route, and none has been conclusively established.

Synonyms: victim, dupe, fall guy, scapegoat, sucker

Antonyms: perpetrator, mastermind, winner, hero, victor