VocabauraVOCABAURA

goat

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Any of many agile ruminants related to sheep but having a beard and straight horns.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

goht
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡoʊt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Any of numerous agile ruminants related to sheep but having a beard and straight horns

  2. uncountable

    The meat of the aforementioned animal.

  3. Any hoofed mammal of the genus Capra.

  4. The eighth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

  5. A fool, loser, or object of ridicule.

  6. informal

    A scapegoat.

verb

  1. transitive

    To scapegoat.

  2. transitive

    To allow goats to feed on.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any of numerous agile ruminants related to sheep but having a beard and straight horns

Used this way, goat is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • laughingstock , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use goat

  • “The little goat was nibbling on grass in the field.”

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “goat”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Numerous

white goatblack goat

Meat

goat meat

Hoofed

goat milk

Other combinations

mountain goatgoat cheeseyoung goatgoat hair

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • goat herdernounCompound term

    A person who tends a flock of goats.

  • goat ruenounCompound term

    Tall bushy European perennial grown for its pinnate foliage and slender spikes of blue flowers.

  • goat willownounCompound term

    Much-branched Old World willow having large catkins and relatively large broad leaves.

  • goat antelopenounCompound term

    Bovid related to goats but having antelope-like features: mountain goats.

  • goat cheesenounCompound term

    Made from goats' milk.

  • goat godnounCompound term

    God of fields and woods and shepherds and flocks.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: any of numerous agile ruminants related to sheep but having a beard and straight horns

laughingstockRare

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “goat” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.