Meaning of Idiom Empty Suit

Empty Suit

come/fall apart at the seams
phrase
informal
: to break into parts or pieces —usually used figuratively to describe someone or something that is in very bad condition
The plan/company is falling apart at the seams.
She looks like she's going to come apart at the seams.



Meaning of Idiom ‘Empty Suit’
An empty suit is a person who appears to be a person of authority and importance but who is actually ineffectual, incompetent, or average and unremarkable; a person in a prominent position but who lacks substance, ability, or personality.

In this way, an empty suit is often a way of describing an ineffectual executive in a company. Empty suit can also refer to an unimportant person or phony, or, another in a large group of people who dress as if they are important but are only pretending to be significant.

Empty suit is not a synonym for ‘stuffed shirt’ but both idioms are often used to describe the same type of person.

stuffed shirt
noun
Synonyms of stuffed shirt

Simple Definition
A Simple Definition is available from our Learner's Dictionary to help you understand the meaning faster.
: a smug, conceited, and usually pompous person often with an inflexibly conservative or reactionary attitude

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Examples Of Use
“The top floor is filled with empty suits. If you want to know what’s going on, you’ll have to ask us down here in the dungeons.”

“I have to go to a boring meeting with a bunch of empty suits. Sometimes I wonder why I took this job.”

“I don’t know how he got elected – just another empty suit in Washington.”

“He’s the boss’s son, an empty suit. He likes to act like he’s in charge but even the boss doesn’t trust him with anything important.”

Meaning of Empty Suit idiom

Origin
Used since around 1950, this idiom alludes to an empty suit of clothes.


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