scapegoat

[skeyp-goht]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

1. to make a scapegoat of.

   Strike leaders tried to scapegoat foreign competitors.

scapegoat

/ 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

verb

1. (tr) to make a scapegoat of

scapegoat

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of scapegoat¹

First recorded in 1520–30; scape ² + goat

Word History and Origins

Origin of scapegoat¹

C16: from _escape + _goat , coined by William Tyndale to translate Biblical Hebrew azāzēl (probably) goat for Azazel, mistakenly thought to mean ``goat that escapes''

Example Sentences

But sentencing him, District Judge Christopher Williams said: "You sought to portray yourself as a victim and that you'd been made to be a scapegoat."

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Talking to kids about their online lives and the messages about gender they are receiving from media and their peers can help boost resilience to harmful narratives or scapegoating.

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For you, the Dodgers are a handy scapegoat.

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TikTok responded saying it categorically rejected the commission's "misleading characterisation of our platform" which sought to "scapegoat our company on industry-wide and societal challenges".

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Starmer and his party have been in permanent crisis almost since taking office 14 months ago, and needed both a scapegoat and the appearance of decisive action.

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Related Words

• fall guy