How to Use patsy in a Sentence

patsy

noun
Definition of patsynext
Synonyms for patsynext
  • They treated us like a bunch of patsies.
  • So why should Democrats be patsies and take the high road?
    — Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 23 Mar. 2017
  • Hasn’t Denver played the patsy, used and abused by the Chiefs, for too long?
    — Mark Kiszla, The Denver Post, 14 Dec. 2019
  • But this does not mean that the U.S. should play the patsy time and again, which was the Obama policy.
    — The Editors, National Review, 10 July 2017
  • Was someone just trying to frame Cazes, to use him as a patsy?
    — Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 1 Nov. 2022
  • Matt Campbell’s team at Iowa State sets up as the patsy today.
    — oregonlive, 2 Jan. 2021
  • While the Angels won four of their six games against the Yankees this season, no team has played the patsy for the Yankees over the last two decades like the Twins have.
    — Billy Witz, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2017
  • The second is that Jack is a red herring or a patsy, and that Eleanor is the primary villain of the season.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 8 Dec. 2021
  • N: The coach’s just a patsy, a fall guy, for the failings of the U president and the athletic director.
    — Rubén Rosario, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2017
  • In that scenario, Trump will end up being just another patsy for the regime.
    — Benjamin Hart, Daily Intelligencer, 11 Mar. 2018
  • The Maxwells strongly assert the U.S. justice system is making a patsy of their youngest sister.
    — Mallika Sen, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2021
  • Indeed, what if the whole lurid rap sheet has been an elaborate set-up, with Nero as history’s patsy?
    — Gaia Squarci, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Sep. 2020
  • Their traits are parceled out on a one-per-customer basis: Humphrey’s a patsy, King a worrier, Carmichael a hothead and Wallace a weasel.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2019
  • The Bulls have allowed the second-most points per game to shooting guards this season, making them a willing patsy for Clarkson.
    — Cory Hanley, SI.com, 26 Jan. 2018
  • The Fringe Factor: Note: This one is not like shows where an audience member or two might get called up to be an unwitting patsy to a sketch or a trick.
    — Trevor Fraser, OrlandoSentinel.com, 21 May 2017
  • The problem is, the Buffaloes paid a physical price for not scheduling patsies.
    — oregonlive, 11 Oct. 2019
  • On Saturday, a trio of schools from the humble Sun Belt Conference took the money—and then staged a rebellion against the practice of playing the patsy for the big boys.
    — Laine Higgins, WSJ, 11 Sep. 2022
  • Despite this track record of stealth and success, liberals have often dismissed Thomas as stupid or a sellout, a patsy and a puppet, the Justice who cannot speak.
    — Corey Robin, The New Yorker, 9 July 2022
  • The great military tactician seemed a patsy for every scoundrel and proved a woeful judge of character.
    — Karen Heller, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2017
  • The difference is that Horton was a pachyderm patsy, snookered into pro bono egg-tending by a ne’er-do-well bird, while Glennon will make a cool $16 million this year.
    — Pat Fitzmaurice, SI.com, 2 Aug. 2017
  • Given the number of suspicious identities involved, Mr. Speers wanted to make sure Mr. Lyles wasn’t a patsy.
    — Annamaria Andriotis, WSJ, 6 Mar. 2018
  • The Baltimore Orioles have become baseball’s patsies this season, entering Monday with a six-game losing streak and the worst record in the majors.
    — New York Times, 9 July 2018
  • Actor David Oyelowo gets a rare comic lead as the film’s title character, a sweet-natured and naive corporate patsy named Harold Soyinka.
    — Ty Burr, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Mar. 2018
  • History has at times portrayed these brothers as naïve, almost as patsies.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2017
  • The move to the College Football Playoff in 2014 has quickly prompted teams with big ambitions to wean themselves off the longtime habit of scheduling patsies for pre-conference games.
    — Laine Higgins, WSJ, 29 Aug. 2017
  • Though he was maligned as a milquetoast patsy, Alan Colmes’s run as the original Fox News liberal looks better in retrospect.
    — Graham Vyse, New Republic, 24 May 2017
  • And yet, even as Trump seems determined to play the role of Putin fanboy and patsy, what is striking is how little the Russians have actively gotten from his administration.
    — Mark Galeotti, The Atlantic, 21 July 2017
  • Technology has emerged as something of a patsy for the broader problems of unemployment systems.
    — NBC News, 23 Apr. 2020
  • But Walter resisted the reflex to play Evelyn as a B-movie banshee, or a pathetic patsy of the feminist movement the film caricatures so floridly.
    — Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2021
  • The parable of the innocent candidate, who is hired as a patsy in the political ruckus and turns out, annoyingly, to possess a conscience, is a cinematic staple.
    — Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker, 5 July 2010

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'patsy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: