Stooge
/stuːdʒ/noun
A person who is used by another to perform menial or dishonest tasks, or a comic sidekick in entertainment.
Did you know?“Stooge” first appears in early 20th-century American English as theatrical slang, probably from an older sense of a person planted to prompt a performer, not from any ancient occult root.
Etymological Timeline
Early 20th Century
English
stooge
“A planted helper, especially in vaudeville or comedy, who cues another performer or takes the fall.”
Possibly 19th Century
English
stooch
“A possible dialectal or slang predecessor with the sense of lurking, stooping, or hanging about, though the exact source is uncertain.”
Unknown
Unknown
?
“The ultimate origin is uncertain; scholars have proposed links to dialect and theatrical slang, but no definitive older source is established.”
Modern English
English
stooge
“A gullible or subordinate person manipulated by someone else; also a comic sidekick.”