unwitting participant
Clueless involved party
An unwitting participant is someone involved in an activity without knowing their true role or the full nature of what's happening.
The phrase emphasizes innocence or lack of culpability: She became an unwitting participant in the fraud when she deposited the checks.
Unlike a willing accomplice, an unwitting participant bears no moral responsibility for the outcome.
- pawnUnwitting tool of another
- dupeDeceive or victim
- puppetControlled performing figure
- accompliceCrime's willing helper
- bystanderOne who observes nearby
tool · fall guy · patsy · stooge · played for a fool · oblivious · manipulated · innocent · innocent bystander · clueless · in the dark · none the wiser · unwary · complicit · blind · naive · scapegoat · victim
unwitting participantmastermind
Scheme's chief planner
ringleader · orchestrator · architect · prime mover · instigator
unwitting, unwittingly, witting, wittingly, wit, wits, witty, wittier, wittiest