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Scapegoat

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A person or group blamed for others’ faults or societal problems, from Levitical ritual of transferring sins to a goat.

Detailed Definition
Biblical origin (Leviticus 16), where a goat carried Israel’s sins into wilderness. In poetry, it explores systemic injustice—racial, political, or familial blame-shifting. Holocaust, civil rights, and feminist poets use it to expose sacrificial logic. The animal metaphor dehumanizes victims, making it potent in works about othering. Poets reclaim the term to honor resilience of the blamed, transforming passive victimhood into witness. Its mythic weight underscores poetry’s role in naming and resisting collective projection of guilt.
Example
Example in poetry:
Holocaust poem: “Jews scapegoated for Germany’s woes—blood libel revived”; Political verse: “Immigrants scapegoated for wage stagnation—truth ignored”; Family dynamic: “Youngest blamed for chaos—scapegoat for parents’ failing marriage”; Economic crisis: “Unions scapegoated for corporate greed—divide and conquer”.
Additional Notes
Biblical origin (Leviticus 16), where a goat carried Israel’s sins into wilderness. In poetry, it explores systemic injustice—racial, political, or familial blame-shifting. Holocaust, civil rights, and feminist poets use it to expose sacrificial logic. The animal metaphor dehumanizes victims, making it potent in works about othering. Students should analyze how poets reclaim the term to honor resilience of the blamed, transforming passive victimhood into witness. Its mythic weight underscores poetry’s role in naming and resisting collective projection of guilt onto marginalized bodies or communities.
Other Meanings of “Scapegoat”
Also Known As
Fall guy Whipping boy
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