blame
to hold responsible; find fault with; censure: I don't blame you for leaving him.
to place the responsibility for (a fault, error, etc.) (usually followed by on): I blame the accident on her.
Informal. blast; damn (used as a mild curse): Blame the rotten luck.
an act of attributing fault; censure; reproof: The judge said he found nothing to justify blame in the accident.
responsibility for anything deserving of censure: We must all share the blame for this deplorable condition.
Idioms about blame
to blame, at fault; censurable: I am to blame for his lateness.
Origin of blame
1synonym study For blame
usage note For blame
Other words for blame
Other words from blame
- blamer, noun
- o·ver·blame, verb (used with object), o·ver·blamed, o·ver·blam·ing.
- self-blame, noun
- un·blam·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with blame
Words Nearby blame
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use blame in a sentence
It turns out there are a number of ways of divvying up the blame.
It’s easy to throw blame at university leaders and students for the chaos that schools have already experienced this year.
Donald Trump has failed to protect me and other students from COVID-19 | jakemeth | September 3, 2020 | FortuneA law firm preparing the city’s defense has put the blame on environmental contractors.
How the City Came to Lease a Lemon | Lisa Halverstadt and Jesse Marx | August 10, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoThe Kenyan government also shared blame for being in breach of both environmental and human rights laws within the Kenyan constitution.
How a grassroots campaign won $12 million taking on a lead-poisoning battery plant in Kenya | Soila Kenya | July 30, 2020 | QuartzThis suggests that at least some voters are open to an argument that gives China a significant share of the blame for the pandemic.
Why Blaming China For The Pandemic Probably Won’t Help Trump Win | Likhitha Butchireddygari (likhitha.butchireddygari@disney.com) | July 28, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
If so, he has his silence -- on top of poor judgment -- to blame.
And who can blame them for feeling disenfranchised when they see their efforts dwarfed by the mega donors.
And in so many of these events, the pattern of “blame the victim” was quickly in evidence.
“Most of the diseases we blame on nutrition are actually diseases of disempowerment,” Bacon said.
Authorities blame anarchists protesting a proposed high-speed rail line called TAV that will link Turin and Lyon, France.
Tell Lady Maude the candid truth, and take shame and blame to yourself, as you deserve.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodAnd he was inclined to believe that it was Grandfather Mole that was to blame for the scarcity of worms in the neighborhood.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott BaileyIf the journey is now distasteful to her, she has but her own rashness to blame in having sought it herself.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniMy own yielding folly alone is to blame, and I shall take shame to myself for ever.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodI don't blame him for killin' the cuss, not a bit; I'd have shot any man livin' that 'ad taken a good horse o' mine up that trail.
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
British Dictionary definitions for blame
/ (bleɪm) /
responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure; culpability
an expression of condemnation; reproof
be to blame to be at fault or culpable
(usually foll by for) to attribute responsibility to; accuse: I blame him for the failure
(usually foll by on) to ascribe responsibility for (something) to: I blame the failure on him
to find fault with
Origin of blame
1Derived forms of blame
- blamable or blameable, adjective
- blamably or blameably, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with blame
see lay (the blame) on; to blame.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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