whipping boys

noun

plural of whipping boy
as in victims
a person or thing taking the blame for others used the government's economic policies as the whipping boy for every bad decision the company made

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for whipping boys
  1. victims
  2. goats
  3. excuses
  4. scapegoats
Noun
  • On Sunday, Jordan’s Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah attended a funeral held for the victims while Jordan’s King Abdullah II visited the injured in the hospital earlier.
    — Aoife Walsh, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Relatives of the victims said the arrests brought them some relief.
    — Omar Akour, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of victims
Noun
  • The virus has also been known to infect sheep, goats, horses and alpacas.
    — Sahas Mehra, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Cows are the most common animal that’s used for calf hair, though goats also occasionally come into the picture.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of goats
Noun
  • None of this excuses Chris’ malicious behavior, not just toward Carrie but toward her future stepsister, Brooklyn (Rowan Danielle), and the school as a whole, mostly via a fake Instagram account devoted to smearing students and faculty alike.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 21 Oct. 2026
  • They are held to a standard that doesn't include entitlement, excuses, or any agenda other than TEAM.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of excuses
Noun
  • Some veterans say recruiters deceived them and Haitian authorities tortured them; their families call them scapegoats.
    — Astrid Suárez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • This tradition viewed progressive nationalism as using promises of reform and demagogic tirades against scapegoats abroad to distract from their own corruption and irresponsibility.
    — Andre Pagliarini, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of scapegoats
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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whipping boy
whipping boys
whippings
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Cite this Entry

“Whipping boys.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whipping%20boys. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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