Scapegoat
Meaning of Scapegoat
A person blamed for the faults of others.
ما معنى كلمة Scapegoat بالعربي؟
شخص يتحمل ذنب أو لوم الآخرين ظلماً
🐐🎯 شخص يتحمل ذنب أو لوم الآخرين ظلماً؛ ضحية تُحمل مسؤوليات أخطاء غيرها؛ ضحية افتراء تُستخدم لتبرئة المُخطئين الحقيقيين وتحويل الغضب بعيداً عنهم، وتُعاني من العواقب دون أن تكون السبب الفعلي للمشكلة 🐐🎯
قصة GL: كبش الفداء الذي يُصبح أحياناً العقل عندما نُحمله مسؤولية فشل الطرق الخاطئة - ضحية تُحمل مسؤوليات خاطئة، ضحية الافتراء حين نلوم قدراتنا بدلاً من تطويرها بالطرق الصحيحة عبر التعلم الجيني 🎭
Synonyms & related words
Scapegoat in a sentence
Scapegoating was studied as a group-dynamics effect.
The manager became a scapegoat for the delay.
A scapegoat cannot replace proof of fault.
Students discuss why scapegoats are unfair.
Origin of Scapegoat
Coined by William Tyndale in 1530 for the Hebrew Bible goat sent into the wilderness, from escape + goat.
In the Genetic Learning (GL) context
In Genetic Learning work led by Naif Talal Al-Essa, scapegoat is unfair blame. GL keeps a blame-free review culture.
Scapegoat audio micro-course (transcript)
Podcast 1 — Introduction & meaning
Narrator: Today's word is "Scapegoat" — noun, pronounced /ˈskeɪpɡəʊt/, with the stress on "scape".
Narrator: A scapegoat is a person who is blamed for something wrong that others did.
Narrator: In plain English, it is someone who takes the blame unfairly.
Narrator: It comes from an old ritual where a goat was sent away carrying the people’s sins, the escape goat.
Narrator: A common collocation is "made a scapegoat", which describes being unfairly blamed.
Narrator: It differs from "culprit", because a culprit is actually guilty, while a scapegoat is not.
Narrator: In a second sense, groups can be scapegoated in politics during hard times.
Narrator: Workplaces, politics, sport and psychology all rely on the word.
Narrator: So remember: a scapegoat carries blame that isn’t theirs.
Read podcasts 2 and 3
Podcast 2 — In conversation
Speaker A: Why was the intern blamed for the outage?
Speaker B: He was the SCAPEGOAT! From the ancient escape goat ritual.
Speaker A: Not his fault?
Speaker B: Not at all.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "The manager became a scapegoat for poor results", sport. "Don't make her the scapegoat", work. "Migrants were scapegoated", history.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Write it as one word, "scapegoat".
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Fall guy is its cousin, whipping boy its twin, and patsy an alternative — yet scapegoat keeps its ancient reputation!
Podcast 3 — Prompt engineering
Speaker B: Let's use "scapegoat" in AI prompts — useful for incident reviews and history lessons.
Speaker A: How for incident reviews?
Speaker B: Stay blameless.
Prompt: Rewrite this incident review so it focuses on causes rather than making anyone a scapegoat.
Speaker A: And history?
Speaker B: Explain patterns.
Prompt: Explain how scapegoating worked in 1930s Europe for sixth-form students.
Speaker A: Could it help HR?
Speaker B: Yes, for fairness.
Prompt: Write guidance for managers on avoiding scapegoating after a failed project.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Sport.
Prompt: Write a balanced column asking whether the goalkeeper is a scapegoat for the defeat.
Frequently asked questions about Scapegoat
What does Scapegoat mean?
A person blamed for the faults of others.
ما معنى كلمة Scapegoat بالعربي؟
شخص يتحمل ذنب أو لوم الآخرين ظلماً — 🐐🎯 شخص يتحمل ذنب أو لوم الآخرين ظلماً؛ ضحية تُحمل مسؤوليات أخطاء غيرها؛ ضحية افتراء تُستخدم لتبرئة المُخطئين الحقيقيين وتحويل الغضب بعيداً عنهم، وتُعاني من العواقب دون أن تكون السبب الفعلي للمشكلة 🐐🎯
How do you pronounce Scapegoat?
Scapegoat is pronounced /ˈskeɪpɡəʊt/ and is used as a noun / verb.
How is Scapegoat used in a sentence?
Scapegoating was studied as a group-dynamics effect.
What are synonyms of Scapegoat?
fall guy, whipping boy, patsy, victim, sacrificial lamb, blame bearer.