scapegoat
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“He’s our scapegoat: the hedge fund guy who bought the mom-and-pop shop.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
They also depicted him as a scapegoat whose prosecution was being used to cover up the Los Angeles Fire Department's failure to extinguish the initial fire.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
He claimed he had been made a "scapegoat" after a "witch hunt" following the operation, carried out at the Royal Oldham Hospital, where he was working as a locum on 25 August 2020.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Is L.A. the villain, the scapegoat, or both?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
“You’re making Stan a scapegoat, just like you want to make me a mascot.”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
“It’s important for them to let people know, ‘Hey, we’re here to figure out what’s going on and we’re here to correct it, not find individual scapegoats.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Whatever the case, more scapegoats are almost certainly on the way.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
The irony, which Mr. Crow misses, is that Marat, with his lists of enemies and scapegoats and his lust for punishment, was the ancestor of the modern totalitarians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Kenyan human rights activist Hussein Khalid urged the government to take urgent measures to protect them, saying that Tanzanian authorities were using Kenyans as "scapegoats for the atrocities committed by police against Tanzanians".
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025
I should have been cursing the system, but my mom and dad were much more tangible scapegoats.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Vocabulary lists containing scapegoat
Idioms and Expressions, List 1
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Wait, What? Confusing Compound Words
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Jane Eyre
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