blame
Americanverb (used with object)
-
blames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blamed,
past participle, past
-
blaming
present participle
-
to hold responsible; find fault with; censure.
I don't blame you for leaving him.
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to place the responsibility for (a fault, error, etc.) (usually followed byon ).
I blame the accident on her.
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Informal. blast; damn (used as a mild curse).
Blame the rotten luck.
noun
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an act of attributing fault; censure; reproof.
The judge said he found nothing to justify blame in the accident.
- Synonyms:
- animadversion, reproach, stricture, condemnation, reprehension
-
responsibility for anything deserving of censure.
We must all share the blame for this deplorable condition.
- Synonyms:
- sin, fault, culpability, guilt
idioms
noun
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responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure; culpability
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an expression of condemnation; reproof
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to be at fault or culpable
verb
-
(usually foll by for) to attribute responsibility to; accuse
I blame him for the failure
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(usually foll by on) to ascribe responsibility for (something) to
I blame the failure on him
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to find fault with
Usage
Some speakers avoid blame on as informal ( He blamed the fight on me ), preferring blame alone ( He blamed me ) or blame for ( He blamed me for it ). Since all three forms occur with equal frequency in educated usage, they may all be considered equally acceptable.
Synonym Usage
Blame, censure, condemn imply finding fault with someone or something. To blame is to hold accountable for, and disapprove because of, some error, mistake, omission, neglect, or the like: Whom do you blame for the disaster? The verb censure differs from the noun in connoting scolding or rebuking even more than adverse criticism: to censure one for extravagance. To condemn is to express an adverse (especially legal) judgment, without recourse: to condemn conduct, a building, a person to death.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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blamernoun
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self-blamenoun
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overblameverb (used with object)
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blamableadjective
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unblamingadjective
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blamablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blamesimple
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blamessimple
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have blamedperfect
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has blamedperfect
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am blamingprogressive
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are blamingprogressive
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is blamingprogressive
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have been blamingperfect progressive
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has been blamingperfect progressive
Past
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blamedsimple
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had blamedperfect
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was blamingprogressive
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were blamingprogressive
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had been blamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blame
First recorded in 1150–1200; (for the verb) Middle English blamen, from Anglo-French, Old French blasmer, from Vulgar Latin blastēmāre (unrecorded), from Late Latin blasphēmāre “to speak irreverently, profanely” ( see blaspheme); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
Blame is about being responsible for something that's bad or has gone wrong. If you have a headache, you might blame it on the heat, or on not getting enough sleep. A person can be to blame for something. Your mom might walk into the house, see a broken lamp and blame you. Often, in official contexts, blame is "assigned" or "placed." A common complaint among younger siblings is, "Why do I always get blamed for everything?"
Vocabulary lists containing blame
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"The Jacket"
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Farmers disagree, saying drought and other factors are primarily to blame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
All the defendants will also likely blame Walker for her own condition, given that she suffered from a constellation of issues before becoming pregnant.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
Another datapoint released at the same time could be to blame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
They say the cuts are needed to secure Caley's finances and blame a £33m fall in income over two years, partly due to a drop in the number of international students.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
“Can you blame her for not giving up? Why can’t you just help her?”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Cohen blames other departments’ delays in turning over data as part of the reason for its chronic lateness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
He blames cellphones, saying, “There’s more money being stolen with that phone than there’s ever been with a gun.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
The firm itself blames Russia and police arrest three suspects who they say were "following orders".
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
“Director Matson now blames me for his ostrich troubles and his conflict of interest troubles,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
This is not, for us, an occasion for joy like a snow day for the grade-school crowd, because Ted blames us for his customers’ fecklessness.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
State medical organizations, in turn, blamed lawmakers for writing ambiguous laws that offered no guidance about when doctors can intervene.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
Wildfires in Indonesia are blamed in large part on slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that result in the destruction of fire-resistant forest cover and the draining of peatlands.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Roughly 4 million barrels a day—around 4% of global supply—were flowing through it before drone strikes blamed on Iran-backed forces in Iraq damaged the pipeline on Sept. 10, analysts estimate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
And while GM Brandon Gomes publicly blamed the “ebbs and flows” of a season and not knee inflammation or biceps tightness, Ohtani waved wildly at pitches and piled up 22 strikeouts in 14 games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
No one blamed Alice Paul for the shortcomings of the parade.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Food maker Conagra Brands increased its outlook for inflation this year, blaming rising logistics and fuel costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
“They basically dug their own grave,” Abbott said to ABC, blaming tech companies for moving too fast without consulting local stakeholders.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
Asked about the Post's reporting, the Kennedy Center declined to comment and referred AFP to a recent statement from spokesperson Roma Daravi blaming "decades of neglect and deferred maintenance by the previous leadership."
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Yet authorities have historically avoided blaming industrial actors for causing large-scale fires.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
It seemed as if he would never stop weeping or blaming himself.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
