in effigy

Idioms  

1. Symbolically. For example, That umpire was completely unfair—let's burn him in effigy. Now used only figuratively, this term formerly signified a way of carrying out the sentence of a criminal who had escaped, such as burn in effigy or hang in effigy. A dummy was made of the criminal or a detested political figure and subjected to the prescribed punishment. [c. 1600]

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Example Sentences

In 1917, that meant Carrie Chapman Catt having tea with President Wilson inside the White House while Paul and her friends tried to burn him in effigy in Lafayette Square, Taub said.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 17, 2025

Sample advice: “Don’t set fire to your book in effigy or sob uncontrollably onto the shoulder of the few people who did show up.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 2023

After his employees hang him in effigy, the tycoon goes undercover to ferret out the agitators of a union drive led by a store clerk in the shoe department and a union organizer.

From Salon • Sep. 5, 2022

These Protestant activists have burned Mr. Kim in effigy during outdoor rallies and released large balloons that spread anti-Kim leaflets over the North.

From New York Times • Oct. 9, 2018

"Fair enough. So long as the probe gets to Hermes, they can burn me in effigy for all I care."

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir