Quantcast
Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
  • Dictionary
  • Thesaurus
  • Scrabble
  • Spanish Central
  • Learner's Dictionary

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

whipping boy

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of whipping boy

  1. a person or thing taking the blame for others <used the government's economic policies as the whipping boy for every bad decision the company made> Synonyms fall guy, goat, scapegoatRelated Words victim; butt, dupe, fool, laughingstock, mark, mockery, monkey; excuse



Learn More about whipping boy

  1. Dictionary: Definition of whipping boy

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up whipping boy? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

vamoose

play

to depart quickly

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. big league, bigly Both are real words

  2. stamina The word means "staying power"

  3. temperament The candidates attacked each other's temperaments

  4. braggadocio Trump said 'braggadocious'

  5. skittle What is a 'skittle'?

SEE ALL

Words at Play

transfiguration
'Dumbledore', 'Hippogriff', and 11 More Real Words from Harry Potter

The history behind Harry Potter

hipster
The Original Hipsters

Hint: they carried things on their hips

spitting-image
Where Does 'Spitting Image' Come From?

And what about 'splitting image'?

between-you-and-i
'Between You and I'

Don't let this phrase come between you

Ask the Editors

subjunctive
How to Use the Subjunctive in English

If I were you, I'd watch this

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

alphabet-pasta-spelling-help
Difficult Spelling Words Quiz

Can you spell these 15 tricky spelling words?

Take the quiz
who-knew-quiz
Who Knew?

Take this quiz and discover 12 words for things you didn't know had words.

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game