goats

noun

plural of goat
as in victims
a person or thing taking the blame for others an unhappy childhood was the goat he used to rationalize every failure and shortcoming

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 goats Walking around the pumpkin patch and looking at baby goats is just the cutest. — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 6 Oct. 2026 North Carolinians recently faced a scare when baby goats at a roaming petting zoo tested positive for rabies. — Eva Flowe october 1, Charlotte Observer, 1 Oct. 2026 Baker and her husband had become interested in raising goats during the pandemic. — CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026 After coffee, visitors can head into the pasture to meet goats and fluffy Highland cows. — Wakisha Bailey, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026 Domestic animals including cats, dogs, cattle, goats and sheep continue to show a decline in positive cases. — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026 In a remote Somali pastoral village, two twelve-year-old boys, Waasuge and Warmooge, spend their days herding goats and playing. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026 Six goats—with names like Gilligan and MacLovin'—nibble on the leaves of bush honeysuckle and English ivy, clearing some of the invasive plant species that have choked out the native flora that once flourished on the uninhabited island. — Daliah Singer, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026 In 2024, Marx, Hill, and several neighbors hired a grazier to bring goats and sheep to nineteen properties in Bennett Ridge. — Ingfei Chen, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goats
  1. victims
  2. scapegoats
  3. excuses
  4. monkeys
Noun
  • One boat was traveling from Ubangi, in the northwest, to the capital of Kinshasa, and the other from Kinshasa to Lukolela, close to where the collision happened, Mputu said, and added that search efforts continue to find more victims and survivors.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • His National Film Board of Canada film goes beyond numbers to humanize the Iranian-Canadian victims of Flight PS752 who have long slipped from news headlines, even as their families continue an uphill battle to hold Iran accountable.
    — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of victims
Noun
  • 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
  • Bad guys vanquished… or at the very least, viable scapegoats neutralized.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of scapegoats
Noun
  • The rules, which are never explained, are put there as flimsy excuses for aspects of the pilot that don’t hold together otherwise.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Only to see them, after winning elections, get strong-armed by the party, then offer lame excuses as to why.
    — Colleen Kujawa, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of excuses
Noun
  • Long-range inhibitory neurons marked by the activity of these genes have been known for some time, based on studies in monkeys, but researchers couldn’t figure out how to manipulate them using these genes.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The monkeys were all given anesthetics and covered with sensors and probes that monitored their vitals.
    — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of monkeys

Browse Nearby Words

goatish
goats
goatskin
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Goats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goats. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All