empty suit
7
8.1
- noun
- /ˈɛmpti suːt/
- Offensive
:
incompetente
- Many people believe that the CEO is just an empty suit who takes credit for the team's hard work.
Examples
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Rubio is an empty suit with canned lines.
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While I regard Dear Leader as an empty suit, I don't regard him as stupid.
Blog text (9) -
The guy's an empty suit.
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It's a lock, especially now that we know the empty suit has been given four more years.
Blog text (27) -
Give it up, Republicans; your candidate is an "empty suit" in every sense of the word.
Blog text (26) -
Everybody sees he is just an empty suit, filled with empty rhetoric.
Blog text (32) -
Many have come to the realization that we elected an empty suit to the highest office in the land.
Blog text (32) -
Mitt Romney is an empty suit that will just kick the can down the road.
Blog text (15) -
So your comment that O is an empty suit and ignorant to boot is unsurprising.
Blog text (22) -
What if Romney is really an empty suit who doesn't know or won't say what he believes?
Blog text (8)
Synonyms
16
7.1
A person who is lazy and does nothing useful
9
6.1
A title with no real power or duties
3
3.7
A person who does not have the skills or ability to do a task well
Antonyms
How Capable
∞
3.2
11
3.4
- Formal
39
4.1
6
4.6
- Offensive
7
8.1
- Offensive
38
8.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a person lacking real ability or substance' is directly derivable from combining 'empty' (lacking substance, feeling, or meaning) with 'suit' (a person in a corporate/executive role). Although 'suit' in this sense is a metaphorical/slang use for a person, the adjective+noun composition is straightforward and a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
Empty suit may come from the picture of a smart suit with nothing inside, just an empty coat on a hanger. Because it looks important but has no person or real skill, the phrase now means someone 'lacking real ability or substance'.