Synonyms of whipping boy

whipping boy

noun

as in victim

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 & Similar Words

• victim
• fall guy
• goat
• excuse
• scapegoat
• monkey
• butt
• fool
• mockery
• mark
• dupe
• laughingstock

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of whipping boy

As head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci has become a standard whipping boy for conservatives pushing back against anti-pandemic restrictions, but few politicians have placed him at the center of their outreach to their political base like DeSantis. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2021

Still, having his excoriating assessments collected between hard covers makes for a powerful indictment, the more so because Boehner’s book vividly captures the growing horror of a bartender’s kid who evolved from a reflexive Democrat to a Reagan Republican to a tea party whipping boy. —Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2021

The weaponization subcommittee’s foremost target will be the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which during Trump’s presidency became a whipping boy for the right, contradicting the GOP’s claim to champion law and order. —Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 21 Feb. 2023

Jamie, the lawyer, is the resident whipping boy, the black sheep whose ambitions surpass his mettle. —Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2023