"scapegoat" meaning in English

See scapegoat in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/ [Canada, US], /ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/ [UK] Audio: en-us-scapegoat.ogg [US], en-au-scapegoat.ogg [Australia] Forms: scapegoat [singular], scapegoats [plural]
Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A scapegoat is a goat that was released into the wilderness while another was killed in a ritual.
    Sense id: simple-scapegoat-en-noun-57FCnDII
  2. A scapegoat is someone who is punished for a mistake that someone else made.
    Sense id: simple-scapegoat-en-noun-qglfRnS2

Verb

IPA: /ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/ [Canada, US], /ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/ [UK] Audio: en-us-scapegoat.ogg [US], en-au-scapegoat.ogg [Australia] Forms: scapegoat [canonical], scapegoats [third-person, singular], scapegoated [past], scapegoated [past, participle], scapegoating [present, participle]
Head templates: {{verb}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If you scapegoat someone, you punish them for someone else's mistake.
    Sense id: simple-scapegoat-en-verb-hC8bxE9F
     
{
  "forms": [
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      "form": "scapegoat",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
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      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "A scapegoat is a goat that was released into the wilderness while another was killed in a ritual."
      ],
      "id": "simple-scapegoat-en-noun-57FCnDII",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable",
        "biblical"
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    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Bobby broke the window, but Cynthia was made into the scapegoat and had to pay Mr. Lee for it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A scapegoat is someone who is punished for a mistake that someone else made."
      ],
      "id": "simple-scapegoat-en-noun-qglfRnS2",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-scapegoat.ogg",
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      "tags": [
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      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
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      "form": "scapegoat",
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        "third-person",
        "singular"
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    },
    {
      "form": "scapegoated",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "scapegoated",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scapegoating",
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      ]
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
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      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "If you scapegoat someone, you punish them for someone else's mistake."
      ],
      "id": "simple-scapegoat-en-verb-hC8bxE9F",
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        "transitive"
      ]
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    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
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    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
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    {
      "audio": "en-us-scapegoat.ogg",
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{
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      "form": "scapegoat",
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        "singular"
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    },
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  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
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  "senses": [
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        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A scapegoat is a goat that was released into the wilderness while another was killed in a ritual."
      ],
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        "countable",
        "biblical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Bobby broke the window, but Cynthia was made into the scapegoat and had to pay Mr. Lee for it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A scapegoat is someone who is punished for a mistake that someone else made."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-scapegoat.ogg",
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      "form": "scapegoat",
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        "third-person",
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      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "scapegoated",
      "tags": [
        "past",
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      ]
    },
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you scapegoat someone, you punish them for someone else's mistake."
      ],
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        "transitive"
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    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-scapegoat.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
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      "tags": [
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    },
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      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
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}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-03 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (05fdf6b and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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