straw men

Noun

straw man (plural straw men)

1. A doll or scarecrow, particularly one stuffed with straw.
2. (figuratively) An innocuous person or someone of nominal or lesser importance, as a front man or straw boss.
3. (figuratively) An insubstantial concept, idea, endeavor or argument, particularly one deliberately set up to be weakly supported, e.g. by misrepresenting an opponent's argument by broadening or narrowing the scope of a premise, so that it can be easily knocked down; especially to impugn the strength of any related or contrasted thing or idea.
   • This Euler inequality recurs as either the cornerstone or the straw man in many theories contained in this book.2018, Lars Ljungqvist and Thomas J. Sargent, Recursive macroeconomic theory, 4th edition, MIT Press, page 4

   Antonyms:

   steelman

4. (figuratively) An outline serving as an initial proposal for a project, usually refined iteratively.
   • a tentative straw-man spec
5. Synonym of straw buyer.
   • If a broker or a salesperson attempts to use a straw man to purchase property for which he or she has a listing, the real estate person must specifically disclose in writing to the seller this relationship with the buyer.2000, John W. Reilly, The Language of Real Estate, page 381

   Synonyms:

   straw buyer

See all 6 meanings of straw man