scapegoat

Everyday

1. A person or group blamed for something bad that is not really their fault, often so others escape blame. tree →
2. (Bible) In the Old Testament (Leviticus 16), on the Day of Atonement the priest put the people's sins on a goat and sent it into the desert. tree →
3. (verb) To unfairly blame someone this way. tree →

In the lessons

In ethics, history and anti-bullying lessons, scapegoating is unfair: in history whole groups, such as Jews in Nazi Germany, were wrongly blamed for a country's problems. In everyday life a child can be made the scapegoat for a broken window. Phrases: «make someone a scapegoat», «used as a scapegoat».

Examples

• The new boy was made the scapegoat for the broken window. tree →
• Don't scapegoat your sister for your mess. tree →
• In history, minorities were often used as scapegoats. tree →
• In the Bible the scapegoat carried the people's sins into the wilderness. tree →
• The coach became the scapegoat when the team lost. tree →
• Scapegoating someone is a kind of bullying. tree →

Note

Countable: scapegoats. One word. Verb: «scapegoat», and «scapegoating» for the act. Not the same as «escape goat».