mea culpa

American  

[mey-uh kuhl-puh, mee-uh, me-ah kool-pah] / ˈmeɪ ə ˈkʌl pə, ˈmi ə, ˈmɛ ɑ ˈkʊl pɑ /

interjection

1. my fault! (used as an acknowledgment of one's responsibility).

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noun

plural

mea culpas

1. an acknowledgment of one's responsibility for a fault or error.

mea culpa British  

/ ˈmeɪɑː ˈkʊlpɑː /

1. an acknowledgment of guilt

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mea culpa Cultural  

1. An expression from Catholic ritual that assigns blame to oneself: “I gave you the wrong directions to my house — mea culpa.” From Latin, meaning “my fault” or “my blame.”

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Usage

What does mea culpa mean? Mea culpa is the Latin way of saying my bad. It literally means “through my (own) fault.”Mea culpa can be used as an interjection (much like my fault or my bad) or as a noun referring to an apology, as in The senator offered a mea culpa during the press conference. Example: Dave usually has a hard time admitting he’s wrong, so his mea culpa means a lot.

Etymology

Origin of mea culpa

From Latin: literally “through my fault”; mea culpa def. 1 was first recorded in 1200–50, and mea culpa def. 2 in 1815–20; cf. culpa ( def. )

Example Sentences

There’s a lot more to say, but this time, it’s about Carlson’s too-little, too-late mea culpa.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

"Normally, when presidents realise they are angering the public, they pull back and have some kind of mea culpa," Rowland said.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

Mr. Steyer has endorsed them, but it’s never too late for a mea culpa.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025

Montier’s mea culpa came in 2022, when he reflected on why his argument had been so wrong.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 24, 2025

Not only did she have to deliver the biggest mea culpa in NASA's history, every second of it would be remembered forever.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Related Words

• my bad
• my fault