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On Yom Kippur, the ancient Hebrews would sacrifice one goat for the Lord and lead another one into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people. The ceremony is described in Leviticus, where it is said that one lot shall be cast for the Lord and one for "Azazel." Modern scholars usually interpret Azazel as being the name of a demon living in the desert, but ancient biblical translators thought Azazel referred to the goat itself, apparently confusing it with the Hebrew phrase ez ozel, meaning "goat that departs." The mistranslation was carried through Greek and Latin into a 16th-century English translation, where the word for the goat was rendered as scapegoote; that is, "goat that escapes." The extended senses of scapegoat we use today evolved from this biblical use.
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The History of Scapegoat
Scapegoat has a fascinating history. Today the word is used to refer to one who is wrongly blamed for something, but it originated with an actual goat.
In the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, God ordained a particular day during which the entire nation of Israel would set aside work, and during which the priests would atone for the sin of the whole nation. Among the rituals prescribed was the scapegoat:
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. —Leviticus 16:8-10, KJV
The scapegoat carried the sin of the people away with it, thereby cleansing Israel for another year.
The English scapegoat is a compound of the archaic verb scape, which means "escape," and goat, and is modeled on a misreading of the Hebrew ʽazāzēl (which is probably the name of a demon) as ʽēz 'ōzēl , "the goat that departs." More modern translations render scapegoat in this text as Azazel, but the misreading endured and has entered the lexicon.
Synonyms
Examples of scapegoat in a Sentence
Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2024
And no one feels more under siege than quarterback Dak Prescott, who is the team’s best leader and also the biggest scapegoat for their playoff failure.
—Clarence E. Hill Jr., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Mar. 2024
Often the scapegoat, Timberlake was finally the hero as No. 14 Kansas dominated K-State 90-68 on Senior Night.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2024
Wilks has been characterized as a scapegoat for the 49ers not winning a championship.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2024
Crime and courts Rebecca Grossman trial goes to jury with central question: Murderer or scapegoat?
—Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2024
Her defense lawyer, Jason Bowles, argued in his opening statement that Gutierrez Reed has been made a scapegoat for errors by Baldwin, the production, and others on set.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024
They've been used as a scapegoat, meaning they're being used as a vessel of all the emotion COVID has brought us, which isn't fair to them at all.
—Journal Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2024
However, the scapegoat model ignores the nuances of the current landscape—and leads to companies following all the wrong strategies to minimize risk.
—Al Khan, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024
Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024
Murati, in a post on X, said the previous board had tried to scapegoat her for OpenAI’s whirlwind of a November.
—David Goldman, CNN, 8 Mar. 2024
Opinion Editorial: California’s retail theft hearings scapegoat Proposition 47
Dec. 21, 2023
Some efforts have already been made to address these crimes.
—Anabel Sosa, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024
Healthcare organizations with performance issues will scapegoat DEI as a cause for their troubles.
—Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023
The goal is to stoke culture wars and scapegoat people who don’t adhere to strictly conservative lifestyles.
—Tori Otten, The New Republic, 28 Sep. 2023
For example, a narcissistic father may scapegoat a son who doesn't have traditional masculine qualities valued by the narcissist, Durvasula says.
—USA TODAY, 16 Aug. 2023
Some analysts said the law was meant to scapegoat gay people and distract the public from mounting domestic challenges, including rising unemployment and skyrocketing food prices.
—Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, 29 May 2023
In court documents filed last month, the ex-producer accused Fox lawyers of trying to scapegoat her and Bartiromo for the network’s lie-peddling about the 2020 election and voting system companies like Dominion.
—Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 24 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scapegoat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near scapegoat
Cite this Entry
“Scapegoat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scapegoat. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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