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scapegoat Definition

scape·goat (skāpgōt′)

noun

  1. a goat over the head of which the high priest of the ancient Jews confessed the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement, after which it was allowed to escape: Lev. 16:7-26
  2. a person, group, or thing upon whom the blame for the mistakes or crimes of others is thrust

Etymology: coined by William Tyndale (1530) < scape + goat, prob. from LL(Vulg.) caper emissarius, lit., emissary goat, transl. of Gr(Ec) tragos aperchomenos, departing goat, used as transl. of Heb sair laazazel < sair, he-goat + l, to + azazel, prob. name of a desert demon, but ? with folk-etym. meaning “goat that leaves,” as if < ez (female) goat + azal, has left

transitive verb, intransitive verb

to make a scapegoat of

scapegoat Related Forms

scape·goat′·ing noun

scapegoat Synonyms

scapegoat

n.

scapegoat Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • seek: As life become harder for everyone people began to seek scapegoats.
  • become: Seals have become the scapegoats for the collapse of the cod stocks.
  • make: She said: " He has been made a scapegoat for Charles Clarke's mess.
  • find: They simply wanted to find a scapegoat to blame for the recycling blunder.
  • create: To escape from the consequences of their actions it suits them fine to shift blame onto the victim - and to create the scapegoat.
  • need: Hitler needed an immediate scapegoat; he ordered Keitel: Send for General Heim at once.

Preposition: for

  • failure: A whole agency may be made a scapegoat for the failure of an inter-agency project.
  • problem: And above all else, too often people have been willing to make Brussels the scapegoat for problems at home.
  • society: Shooting the Messenger The internet is a convenient scapegoat for society 's ills.
  • government: Often, indeed, the IMF is a useful scapegoat for governments having to force through unpopular reforms.
  • ill: Black people become the scapegoats for the ills of capitalism.
  • policy: But sanctions offer an easy scapegoat for ruinous economic policies: economic pain is simply blamed on hostile and ill-intentioned foreigners.

Adjective modifier

  • convenient: You are blaming the supplier, a convenient scapegoat.
  • easy: Whether or not it had played a part in inciting the boys to murder, the video provided an easy scapegoat.
  • political: He is a good, decent man and does not deserve to be turned into a political scapegoat.
  • late: Because the people in question are the latest scapegoats for Britain's ills -- civil servants.
  • good: He made a good scapegoat for everything that had been going wrong lately.
  • favorite: The driver for the backlash is that regulation seems to have become businesses ' favorite scapegoat for their own problems.

Modifies a noun

  • asylum: In addition, they help fuel the rise in racism by attempting to scapegoat asylum seekers for all the government's shortcomings.
  • seeker: In addition, they help fuel the rise in racism by attempting to scapegoat asylum seekers for all the government's shortcomings.

Browse dictionary entries near scapegoat

  1. scape wheel
  2. -scape
  3. scape
  4. Scapa Flow
  5. scanty
  6. scantling
  7. scanties
  8. scant
  9. scansorial
  10. scansion
  1. scapegrace
  2. scaphoid
  3. scaphopod
  4. scapolite
  5. scapose
  6. scapula
  7. scapular
  8. scapular medal
  9. scar
  10. scar tissue