Thesaurus results for WHIPPING BOY

whipping boy

noun

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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

One of my personal concerns is the tendency, particularly in Germany, to focus too much in films on the perpetrators, not the victims, like in Downfall or the recent Wannsee Conference adaptation.

— Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
Several other fire victims are likely in the same situation.

— Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2025