scapegoat

American  

[skeyp-goht] / ˈskeɪpˌgoʊt /

noun

scapegoats plural

1. a person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place.

2. Chiefly Biblical. a goat let loose in the wilderness on Yom Kippur after the high priest symbolically laid the sins of the people on its head. Leviticus 16:8,10,26.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make a scapegoat of.

   Strike leaders tried to scapegoat foreign competitors.

scapegoat British  

/ ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt /

noun

1. a person made to bear the blame for others

2. Old Testament a goat used in the ritual of Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16); it was symbolically laden with the sins of the Israelites and sent into the wilderness to be destroyed

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verb

1. (tr) to make a scapegoat of

scapegoat Cultural  

1. A person or group that is made to bear blame for others. According to the Old Testament, on the Day of Atonement, a priest would confess all the sins of the Israelites over the head of a goat and then drive it into the wilderness, symbolically bearing their sins away.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• scapegoats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scapegoat

First recorded in 1520–30; scape ² + goat

Explanation

The Bible depicts a ritual in which a goat is sent out into the desert bearing the faults of the people of Israel. The word scapegoat first occurred in the earliest English translation of the Bible, and it has come to mean any individual punished for the misdeeds of others. When a politician gets caught lying, he or she might use an assistant as a scapegoat. Somehow the lie will wind up being the assistant's fault. Your mom might tell you to use her as a scapegoat if you need to. So if your friends want you to go to a wild party and you don't want to, you should tell them your mom won't let you. That way, they will be mad at her and not at you. A fall guy is similar to a scapegoat, but it is mostly used if your scheme has been found out and one of your group of schemers must take the consequences.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scapegoat scapegoats

Lawyer Giovanni Paolo Accinni, a member of his legal team, told Italian media Castellucci was nothing more than a "scapegoat" who in truth had "insisted that the pier reinforcement work be carried out".

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

The group’s president, Basil Russo—a former Democratic politician from Cleveland—said Columbus had become a scapegoat for Western colonization.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

Is it actually dangerous for kids, or a scapegoat for a larger problem?

From Slate ● May 17, 2026

But some experts have suggested the technology is being used as a scapegoat for reducing headcount after a post-Covid hiring spree by many big corporates.

From BBC ● May 14, 2026

“You’re making Stan a scapegoat, just like you want to make me a mascot.”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

Whatever the case, more scapegoats are almost certainly on the way.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026

"I understand that populism is spreading all over the world and that people are trying to look for scapegoats, they're angry," he said.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026

The irony, which Mr. Crow misses, is that Marat, with his lists of enemies and scapegoats and his lust for punishment, was the ancestor of the modern totalitarians.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

Diego Fagúndez, who captained the Galaxy against Houston and scored the team’s only goal Saturday in his 400th MLS appearance, agrees the team needs to stop looking for scapegoats and start looking for solutions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025

Among the many scapegoats chosen were elderly women living alone, who were charged with witchcraft: Kepler’s mother was carried away in the middle of the night in a laundry chest.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• fall guy