empty suit
An ineffective or incompetent person in a place of authority.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The new manager is just an empty suit.”
“You are an empty suit if you cannot make any real decisions.”
“She worries that the new department head is just an empty suit.”
“Everyone realized the director was an empty suit when he could not answer basic questions about the company budget.”
“The team lost respect for the supervisor because he acted like an empty suit who only cared about his title.”
“We need a leader with actual experience, not another empty suit who just repeats corporate slogans all day.”
“Despite his expensive clothes and confident tone, the candidate proved to be an empty suit who lacked any real understanding of the complex policy issues.”
first recorded 20th c.
The term emerged c. 1950 in the New York Times, derived from the observation that certain ineffective professionals are memorable only for their business attire rather than their workplace accomplishments. It functions as a critique of individuals whose sartorial presence serves as the primary evidence of their professional existence.
- 01
bag of fruit
[Cockney slang]suit
- 02
birthday suit
Nakedness, unclothed skin; an exposure of a human's natural anatomy without clothing.
- 03
cut one's cloth to suit one's purse
To settle for less when money or resources are limited.
- 04
empty the clip
To compete with great vigor, especially by making numerous scoring attempts.
- 05
empty the tank
To make the utmost effort; to contribute to the absolute limit of one's energy and abilities.
- 06
empty words
Any type of talk with little meaning; a message that seems to contain meaningful content but is actually vapid.
- 07
fold like a cheap suit
To give up easily; capitulate.
- 08
follow suit
To follow an example; to imitate or copy the actions of another.
Last updated August 10, 2026