scapegoat
English · Thesaurus
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scapegoat
- /ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/ Canada, US
- /ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/ UK
Where it comes from
From scape + goat; coined by English biblical scholar and translator William Tyndale, interpreting Biblical Hebrew עֲזָאזֵל (“azazél”) (Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26), from an interpretation as coming from עֵז (ez, “goat”) and אוזל (ozél, “escapes”). First attested 1530. Compare English scapegrace, scapegallows.
noun scapegoats
- In the Mosaic Day of Atonement ritual, a goat symbolically imbued with the sins of the people, and sent out alive into the wilderness while another was sacrificed. And Aarõ caſt lottes ouer the .ij. gootes: one lotte for the Lorde, ãd another for a ſcapegoote.
-
Someone unfairly blamed or punished for some failure.
He is making me a scapegoat for his own poor business decisions and the supply chain disruptions caused by the hurricane!
Similar: fall guy, patsy, whipping boy
Similar: sacrificial lamb, escapegoat, fall guy, folk devil, goat, Joe Soap, patsy, scapegoat, whipping boy
verb scapegoats · scapegoating · scapegoated
- To unfairly blame or punish someone for some failure; to make a scapegoat of. People tend to fear and then to scapegoat ... groups which seem to them to be fundamentally different from their own.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: whipping boy, envoy, minion, emissary, messenger, culprit, turkish, butt, outlet, outfall, footwear, patsy, escapegoat, sacrificial lamb, burnt offering, kaparot
noun
Similar: sacrificial lamb, escapegoat, fall guy, folk devil, goat, Joe Soap, patsy, scapegoat, whipping boy
Translations
Every language
noun a goat imbued with the sins of the people
| Español | chivo expiatorio |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 희생양 huisaeng'yang |
| 日本語 | 贖罪の山羊 shokuzai no yagi |
| 中文 | 代罪羔羊 dàizuì gāoyáng, 替罪羊 tìzuìyáng |
| Português | bode expiatório |
| Français | bouc émissaire |
| Deutsch | Sündenbock |
| Italiano | capro espiatorio |
| Ελληνικά | αποδιοπομπαίος τράγος apodiopompaíos trágos |
| Română | țap ispășitor |
| Русский | козёл отпуще́ния kozjól otpuščénija |
| Tiếng Việt | con dê gánh tội |
| العربية | كَبْش فِدَاء kabš fidāʔ |
| עברית | שָׂעִיר לַעֲזָאזֵל sa'ír la'azazél |
noun someone blamed for someone else's error(s)
| Español | cabeza de turco, chivo expiatorio, chivo emisario |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | スケープゴート sukēpugōto, 身代わり migawari, 生贄 ikenie, 贖罪の山羊 shokuzai no yagi |
| 中文 | 替罪羊 tìzuìyáng, 替死鬼 tìsǐguǐ, 代罪羔羊 dàizuì gāoyáng |
| हिन्दी | बकरा bakrā |
| Português | bode expiatório |
| Français | bouc émissaire, chèvre émissaire |
| Deutsch | Sündenbock, Prügelknabe |
| Italiano | capro espiatorio, capro emissario |
| Ελληνικά | αποδιοπομπαίος τράγος apodiopompaíos trágos, εξιλαστήριο θύμα exilastírio thýma |
| Русский | козёл отпуще́ния kozjól otpuščénija, стре́лочник stréločnik, ма́льчик для битья́ málʹčik dlja bitʹjá, крайний krajnij |
| Tiếng Việt | bia đỡ đạn |
| العربية | كَبْش فِدَاء kabš fidāʔ |
| עברית | שָׂעִיר לַעֲזָאזֵל sa'ír la'azazél |
verb to blame or punish for the errors of others
| Español | usar de chivo expiatorio |
|---|---|
| Português | fazer de bode expiatório |
| Français | bouc-émissariser |
| Deutsch | zum Sündenbock machen |
| Italiano | fare da capro espiatorio |
| Русский | де́лать козлом отпущения délatʹ kozlom otpuščenija |
Talk about this word "scapegoat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/scapegoat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. scapegoat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/scapegoat "scapegoat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/scapegoat.Cite this
@misc{scapegoat_2026,
title = {scapegoat},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/scapegoat},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
