as in victim
a person or thing taking the blame for others companies often use the economy as a scapegoat to avoid taking responsibility for dropping sales

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scapegoat Losing the first two games to the Blue Jays has not gone down well in New York, and the manager is usually the first scapegoat when things go wrong. MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025 Convenient scapegoat The council is widely considered unreformable because neither America nor Russia and China would ever contemplate giving up the veto privilege that gums up what could be an international peacekeeping organ. Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025 Intergenerational trauma has been a popular scapegoat for narratives on TV and in horror films over the past decade. Erin Qualey, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025 France had been humiliated in 1871 by Prussia in a foolish war of its own making, and Dreyfus, accused of passing military secrets to the Germans, was a convenient scapegoat in a time of national malaise. Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for scapegoat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scapegoat
Noun
  • Usiripalli is accused of lunging at the second victim, who was seated to the right of the first victim, and stabbed him.
    Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 28 Oct. 2025
  • The study, the first of its kind locally, was conducted by Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee, the state's largest advocacy organization for victims of domestic violence.
    Ashley Luthern, jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Matt Baker says Florida coaches are out of excuses moving forward, Bruce Feldman breaks down the candidates to replace Napier and Chris Vannini has the pluses and minuses of the job.
    The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The Bills have draft capital to move, too, so there's really no excuse not to get something done.
    Jon Conahan, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • When someone hires goats as a landscaping service, people can't help but wander over and watch them with delight.
    Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The menagerie began with a neighbor’s three dozen goats; he’d been drafted and needed someone to care for them.
    Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Scapegoat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scapegoat. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.

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