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chivo expiatorio — meaning in English

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English meaning

  • scapegoat noun A person blamed for a problem or failure that was not really their fault, often to protect others.

Senses

chivo expiatorio is used for these senses in English:

  • scapegoat In the Mosaic Day of Atonement ritual, a goat symbolically imbued with the sins of the people, and sent out alive into the wilderness while another was sacrificed.
  • 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 Spanish words