figurehead vs straw man

figurehead and straw man both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
figurehead	Yes	No	No	No
straw man	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, figurehead and straw man are synonyms defined as:

figurehead and straw man: a person used as a cover for some questionable activity

Other synonyms of figurehead include front, front man, nominal head, strawman.

figurehead (noun)	straw man (noun)
figure on the bow of some sailing vessels	an effigy in the shape of a man to frighten birds away from seeds
a person used as a cover for some questionable activity	a weak or sham argument set up to be easily refuted
	a person used as a cover for some questionable activity