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patsy

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pat⋅sy

  [pat-see]
Use patsy in a Sentence
–noun, plural -sies. Slang.
1. a person who is easily swindled, deceived, coerced, persuaded, etc.; sucker.
2. a person upon whom the blame for something falls; scapegoat; fall guy.
3. a person who is the object of a joke, ridicule, or the like.
Origin:
1900–05, Americanism; orig. uncert.
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Pat⋅sy

  [pat-see]
–noun
1. a male given name, form of Patrick.
2. a female given name, form of Patricia.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To patsy
pat·sy   (pāt'sē)   
n.   pl. pat·sies Slang
A person easily taken advantage of, cheated, blamed, or ridiculed.

[Perhaps from Italian pazzo, fool, from Old Italian paccio.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
patsy [ˈpætsi]

  1. n.
    a victim of a scam. (Underworld. See also dupe.) : That guy over there looks like a perfect patsy.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

patsy 
"fall guy, victim of a deception," 1903, of unknown origin, possibly an alteration of It. pazzo "madman" (see patch (2)), or south It. dial. paccio "fool." Another theory traces it to Patsy Bolivar, character in an 1880s minstrel skit who was blamed whenever anything went wrong.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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