boy scout

Definitions

1. A male member of the Scout Movement.
2. A person, especially a politician, who is idealistic and naive.
   slang
3. A man adhering to the values of honesty and idealism, and possibly somewhat naive or unworldly.
   derogatory, sometimes

Equivalents

Examples

“Gore, of course, has never been a political Boy Scout, least of all when it comes to campaign finance.”

“When he arrived in Washington, some people thought of him as a Boy Scout, perhaps because he wore his hair in a crew cut⟳.”

“An independently rich 52-year-old, he is very much a political boy scout, and has flailed the state Republican party as a cloistered "country club".”

“But the bottom line is that Simon is running for president as the boy scout who adheres to traditional liberal policies and solutions.”

“Rocard, whose two marriages had failed during his long years as the left's boy scout, was reported to be living with a psychoanalyst.”

CEFR level