SCAPEGOAT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does scapegoat mean? 

• SCAPEGOAT (noun)
  The noun SCAPEGOAT has 1 sense:

1. someone who is punished for the errors of others

  Familiarity information: SCAPEGOAT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SCAPEGOAT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who is punished for the errors of others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

scapegoat; whipping boy

Hypernyms ("scapegoat" is a kind of...):

victim (an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance)

 Context examples 

I know that had I been a sanguine, brilliant, careless, exacting, handsome, romping child—though equally dependent and friendless—Mrs. Reed would have endured my presence more complacently; her children would have entertained for me more of the cordiality of fellow-feeling; the servants would have been less prone to make me the scapegoat of the nursery.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)