whipping boy

as in victim
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

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of whipping boy As head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci has become a standard whipping boy for conservatives pushing back against anti-pandemic restrictions, but few politicians have placed him at the center of their outreach to their political base like DeSantis. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2021 Still, having his excoriating assessments collected between hard covers makes for a powerful indictment, the more so because Boehner’s book vividly captures the growing horror of a bartender’s kid who evolved from a reflexive Democrat to a Reagan Republican to a tea party whipping boy. Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2021 The weaponization subcommittee’s foremost target will be the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which during Trump’s presidency became a whipping boy for the right, contradicting the GOP’s claim to champion law and order. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 21 Feb. 2023 Jamie, the lawyer, is the resident whipping boy, the black sheep whose ambitions surpass his mettle. Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2023 See All Example Sentences for whipping boy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whipping boy
Noun
  • Once identified, the kit dynamically loads a counterfeit login page tailored to that provider, often with the victim’s email address already filled in.
    Alex Vakulov, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Preliminary investigation indicates there was an incident between people in the parking lot just before the victim was shot.
    Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Waltz has been seen as a potential fall guy, but even before Trump’s public vote of confidence, there were questions about whether anyone would be punished, particularly because it might be seen as a capitulation to Democrats and the news media.
    Brett Samuels, The Hill, 25 Mar. 2025
  • The Jacksonville Jaguars sacked Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson on Monday in the NFL’s dark annual ritual of finding fall guys after the regular season came to an end Sunday night.
    David K. Li, NBC News, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Have a vet assess the setup before bringing goats home.
    David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025
  • New shops opened in the market, and plump goats began to graze in the pasture.
    Erika Page, Christian Science Monitor, 8 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Ignorance Ignorance is never an excuse for poor governance.
    Committee of 200, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
  • The injury crisis became a convenient excuse for a team already playing quite badly.
    The View from the Lane, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Immigrants and refugees have become political scapegoats there, spawning a rash of attacks and even murders.
    Amy Yurkanin, ProPublica, 15 Apr. 2025
  • Find another scapegoat to rationalize your assault on the crown jewels of American progress — our colleges and universities that until now have attracted the best and the brightest from our country and all over the world.
    Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 3 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Whipping boy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whipping%20boy. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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