Prügelknabe — meaning in English

English meaning

• Patsy noun A person who is easily blamed, deceived, or taken advantage of by others.
• scapegoat noun A person blamed for a problem or failure that was not really their fault, often to protect others.

Senses

Prügelknabe is used for these senses in English:

• patsy (informal, derogatory) A person who is taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something.
• punching bag (figuratively) A person serving as an object of abuse.
• scapegoat Someone unfairly blamed or punished for some failure.
• whipping boy (transferred sense) Someone punished for the errors of others.

scapegoat — full definition

1. noun A person blamed for a problem or failure that was not really their fault, often to protect others.
2. verb To unfairly blame someone for a failure.

Related German words