scapegoat
noun
scape·goat
| \ ˈskāp-ˌgōt
\
\
Definition of scapegoat
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur
2a
: one that bears the blame for others
b
: one that is the object of irrational hostility
scapegoat
verb
scapegoated;
scapegoating;
scapegoats
Definition of scapegoat (Entry 2 of 2)
: to make a scapegoat of
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Other Words from scapegoat
Verb
scapegoatism
\ ˈskāp-ˌgō-ˌti-zəm
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of scapegoat in a Sentence
Noun
The CEO was made the scapegoat for the company's failures. companies often use the economy as a scapegoat to avoid taking responsibility for dropping salesRecent Examples on the Web: Noun
Defense attorneys maintain that their clients were scapegoats for a city potentially staring down millions of dollars in damages in the Ghost Ship civil suit. — Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, "Ghost Ship jurors request key testimony in second week of deliberations," 14 Aug. 2019 Can Florence Pugh, or Greta Gerwig, do the seemingly impossible and take Amy March from scapegoat to sympathetic figure? — Erin Blakemore, Smithsonian, "The New ‘Little Women’ May Finally Do Justice to Its Most Controversial Character," 14 Aug. 2019 Alleged co-conspirators could argue that prosecutors are settling on scapegoats, said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. — Cara Kelly, USA TODAY, "Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Prosecutors could still go after his inner circle if they helped him prey on young girls," 10 Aug. 2019 This very denial is what has set the stage for the riotous resurrection of white entitlement and scapegoat politics. — Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, The New Republic, "The Destructive Politics of White Amnesia," 6 Aug. 2019 Donald Trump, in a press conference Tuesday discussing the two horrific mass shootings over the weekend, turned to a familiar scapegoat: Video games. — Chris Morris, Fortune, "Trump Once Again Blames Video Games for Mass Shootings. Experts Disagree.," 5 Aug. 2019 Social scientists and philosophers have long noted people’s aversion to otherness of any kind, and the ubiquitous tendency to scapegoat and persecute minorities that differed from one’s own group in race, ethnicity or religion. — Arie Kruglanski, The Conversation, "Are Syrian refugees a danger to the West?," 19 July 2019 Because earthquakes can’t be blamed on the usual American scapegoats—the media, poor people, gays, immigrants. — Joe Mathews, The Mercury News, "Mathews: Earthquakes are essential to Californians’ self-esteem," 17 July 2019 Turks are struggling with the soaring cost of living and high unemployment, and Syrians have become an easy scapegoat for their economic woes. — Gul Tuysuz, CNN, "Turkey is turning its back on Syrians fleeing war," 7 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Uber and Lyft, for their part, argue they’re unfairly scapegoated for a traffic problem that can mostly be traced back to regular old Americans driving their regular old cars to work alone every day. — Aarian Marshall, WIRED, "Surprise! Uber and Lyft Don’t Like NYC’s New Ride-Hail Rules," 16 Aug. 2019 Instead of lamenting bizarre circumstances, Griffin scapegoated the Pelicans’ substandard training facility, a shadow of what the Saints enjoy across the hall. — Jake Fischer, SI.com, "How David Griffin Rebuilt the Pelicans and His World," 1 Aug. 2019 Most seem content to scapegoat Syrian refugees, instead of taking responsibility for their own failures. — The Economist, "Politicians are stoking anti-refugee sentiment in Lebanon," 24 Aug. 2019 Hence his delay, earlier this week, on expanding tariffs on Chinese imports, and his increasingly frantic efforts to scapegoat the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell. — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, "No Wonder the Economy Has Trump Spooked," 16 Aug. 2019 But those who scapegoat Amy risk missing a critical portion of the story—Alcott’s loving portrayal of her real-life sister, May, on whom Amy is based. — Erin Blakemore, Smithsonian, "The New ‘Little Women’ May Finally Do Justice to Its Most Controversial Character," 14 Aug. 2019 Kogan, 33, sued the social giant in March, claiming the company scapegoated him to deflect attention from its own misdeeds, thwarting his academic career in the process. — Frank Bajak, The Mercury News, "Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal: Data scientist drops lawsuit," 2 July 2019 He and the other defendants argued that they were being scapegoated for their participation in what had been essentially government policy. — Daniel Castro, Harper's magazine, "The Truce," 10 June 2019 The businessman, who also goes by the name Miles Kwok, has denied allegations of wrongdoing and described Mr. Ma as a friend scapegoated by the Chinese government. — Chun Han Wong, WSJ, "Former Chinese Official Linked to Exiled Tycoon Gets Life in Prison," 27 Dec. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scapegoat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for scapegoat
scapegoat
noun
English Language Learners Definition of scapegoat
: a person who is unfairly blamed for something that others have done
See the full definition for scapegoat in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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