whipping boy

noun

1. a person who is made to bear the blame for another's mistake; scapegoat.
2. (formerly) a boy educated along with and taking punishment in place of a young prince or nobleman.

whipping boy

noun

1. a person of little importance who is blamed for the errors, incompetence, etc, of others, esp his superiors; scapegoat

Word History and Origins

Origin of whipping boy¹

First recorded in 1640–50

Word History and Origins

Origin of whipping boy¹

C17: originally referring to a boy who was educated with a prince and who received punishment for any faults committed by the prince

Idioms and Phrases

A scapegoat, as in This department's always been the whipping boy when things don't go well . This expression alludes to the former practice of keeping a boy to be whipped in place of a prince who was to be punished. [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

Alan Colmes is best known as the lefty whipping boy on Fox News.

From The Daily Beast

Conversely, former Wall Street whipping boy Goldman Sachs has seen the heat die down.

From The Daily Beast

As a whipping-boy he was too spiritless to be satisfying, and Lady Barbara addressed herself to the invitation.

From Project Gutenberg

The most familiar example of whipping-boy is mentioned by Fuller in his "Church History."

From Project Gutenberg

In others he denounces it as rank Judaism, the Jew having at that time become for him the whipping boy for all modern humanity.

From Project Gutenberg

But she's had to understand that I won't be her friend's whipping-boy.

From Project Gutenberg

An' thou cease from study mine office is gone thou'lt need no whipping-boy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fall guy
• patsy
• scapegoat