scapegoat

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: scape goat, scape-goat, scapegoats, escape goat

Antonyms: scape goat, scape-goat, scapegoats, escape goat

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

1. In the Mosaic Day of Atonement ritual, a [[goat]] symbolically [[imbued]] with the [[sin]]s of the people, and sent out alive into the wilderness while another was sacrificed.
2. Someone [[unfairly]] [[blame]]d or [[punish]]ed for some [[failure]].

Verb

1. {{lb|en|transitive|intransitive}} To unfairly [[blame]] or [[punish]] someone for some [[failure]]; to make a [[#Noun|scapegoat]] of.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.