whipping boys

noun

plural of whipping boy
as in victims
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

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for whipping boys
  1. victims
  2. goats
  3. excuses
  4. scapegoats
Noun
  • Mines Minister Rufin Benam Beltoungou expressed condolences to victims’ families and warned miners about the dangers of unsafe mining practices, according to a statement posted by the ministry.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Investigators said one of the victims was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, while the other four were treated at the scene for injuries that were also non-life-threatening.
    — Richard Ramos, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of victims
Noun
  • Synopsis In a remote Somali pastoral village, 12-year-old boys, Waasuge and Warmooge, spend their days herding goats and playing games.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Its forests include beech, pine, fir and Bosnian pine, while wild goats inhabit the mountain's rugged alpine areas.
    — Brittany Anas, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of goats
Noun
  • Their excuses for the past two years have been the same thing.
    — Reginald David, Hartford Courant, 19 Aug. 2026
  • That is more true inside a company than at national scale, because a company has fewer excuses.
    — Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of excuses
Noun
  • Sending out the scapegoats in a van advertising unemployed coaches is next-level stuff.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Black folks have been used as scapegoats for the rising government budgets, and anti-Black stereotypes fueled voters to significantly reduce access to affordable healthcare and educational assistance.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of scapegoats
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.

Browse Nearby Words

whipping boy
whipping boys
whippings
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Cite this Entry

“Whipping boys.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whipping%20boys. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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