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Definition of scapegoat noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

scapegoat

noun
 
/ˈskeɪpɡəʊt/
 
/ˈskeɪpɡəʊt/
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  1. a person who is blamed for something bad that somebody else has done or for some failure synonym fall guy
    • She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence.
    • People always need convenient scapegoats to blame for society's problems.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • convenient
    • easy
    verb + scapegoat
    • become
    • find
    • make somebody
    • …
    preposition
    • scapegoat for
    See full entry
    Word Originmid 16th cent.: from archaic scape ‘escape’ + goat.
See scapegoat in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Check pronunciation: scapegoat

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Nearby words

influence
verb
 
 
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