Gambit and Scapegoat

Gambit

Gambit noun - A clever often underhanded means to achieve an end.

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Scapegoat and gambit are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Scapegoat" instead a noun "Gambit".

Scapegoat noun - A person or thing taking the blame for others.

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Gambit and scapegoat are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Gambit" instead a noun "Scapegoat".

good	good gambit	good scapegoat
perfect	perfect gambit	perfect scapegoat
obvious	obvious gambit	obvious scapegoat
real	real gambit	real scapegoat
Other adjectives: new, major, political, primary, occasional, literal.

Compare Silent Scapegoat, where the Scapegoat volunteered for the job, and Wounded Gazelle Gambit, where "Gazelle" wounds (or pretends to wound) oneself to frame someone else.

Source: The Scapegoat
He also mixed it with The Uriah Gambit by using Yamashiro as a scapegoat for a big fraud, sending him to jail so he'd have a shot at Kimie, who was dangerously near to the Despair Event Horizon.

Source: Comforting the Widow
It is usually much later (if at all) when the others realize that the Silent Scapegoat actually performed an elaborate Heroic Sacrifice or Zero-Approval Gambit and may end up becoming a Tear Jerker once they see this.

Source: Silent Scapegoat

Cite this Source

Scapegoat and Gambit. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 09, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/gambit/scapegoat

Gambit & Scapegoat. N.p., 2016. Web. 09 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/gambit/scapegoat>.

Scapegoat or Gambit. 2016. Accessed August 09, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/gambit/scapegoat.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "gambit" and "scapegoat" have occurred on timeline