finger-pointing
Americannoun
Explanation
Blaming someone for a problem is finger-pointing. If none of your friends will take responsibility for breaking the neighbor's window with their baseball, there may be a lot of finger-pointing. Finger-pointing can simply mean assigning blame to the guilty party, but it can also be a way of avoiding responsibility. If there's a large group of people at your house and someone accidentally lets the cat out, making your sister angry, there will very likely be some finger-pointing: "Tom kept leaving the door open!" You don't have to literally point at a person to be engaged in figurative finger-pointing, but it might be tempting when you say, "She did it!"
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.
But that dynamic—coupled with where the surge in traffic has been going—is part of what is spurring finger-pointing toward the skies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The scale of the crisis has sparked a massive game of corporate finger-pointing.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
What’s happening now is a mix of penny-pinching and finger-pointing.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 24, 2026
The long-term rise in beef prices has provoked market participants into a spate of finger-pointing, not all of which is groundless.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
Amidst the recriminations and finger-pointing from the doctors, scientists, and prison officials, one might have expected the demise of electrocution technology.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
