scapegoat

noun

ˈskāp-ˌgōt How to pronounce scapegoat (audio)
Definition of scapegoatnext
as in victim
a person or thing taking the blame for others companies often use the economy as a scapegoat to avoid taking responsibility for dropping sales

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scapegoat The game was a scapegoat for the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, ground zero of America’s ongoing nightmare. — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026 Prominent intellectuals, famously including novelist Emile Zola, argued that Dreyfus had been made a scapegoat by the French military. — Masha MacPherson, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2026 Just like the Mets, the case could be made that Boston’s president of baseball operations, Craig Breslow, deserved the blame, but the skipper became the scapegoat instead. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026 In a legal filing, Crowley said Mayor Karen Bass, who was out of the country when the fires began, made the longtime firefighter a scapegoat for the catastrophe. — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for scapegoat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scapegoat
  1. victim
  2. excuse
  3. goat
Noun
  • During the investigation, police were alerted to two shooting victims who had walked into area hospitals, including Chance.
    — Adam Thompson, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Mines Minister Rufin Benam Beltoungou expressed condolences to victims’ families and warned miners about the dangers of unsafe mining practices, according to a statement posted by the ministry.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of victim
Noun
  • That is more true inside a company than at national scale, because a company has fewer excuses.
    — Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • The ostensibly patriotic event repeated every year, serving as a kind of decoy, an excuse for tribal members to gather and dance.
    — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of excuse
Noun
  • Synopsis In a remote Somali pastoral village, 12-year-old boys, Waasuge and Warmooge, spend their days herding goats and playing games.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Its forests include beech, pine, fir and Bosnian pine, while wild goats inhabit the mountain's rugged alpine areas.
    — Brittany Anas, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of goat

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scaped
scapegoat
scapegoats
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Cite this Entry

“Scapegoat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scapegoat. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on scapegoat

Nglish: Translation of scapegoat for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about scapegoat

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