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scapegoatism

American  
[skeyp-goh-tiz-uhm] / ˈskeɪp goʊˌtɪz əm /

noun

  1. the act or practice of assigning blame or failure to another, as to deflect attention or responsibility away from oneself.

Etymology

Origin of scapegoatism

scapegoat + -ism

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"There's still some scapegoatism around, people who still make excuses for it all and say everybody's doing it anyway," noted a G.O.P. leader in Massachusetts.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.