recrimination
Americannoun
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the act of recriminating, or countercharging.
Hope gave way to recrimination with both sides claiming the moral high ground.
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a countercharge.
The poll suggests that the public is frustrated by the bickering and recriminations.
noun
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the act or an instance of recriminating
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law a charge made by an accused against his accuser; countercharge
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recrimination
First recorded in 1580–90; from Middle French, from Late Latin recrimination-, stem of recriminatio “criticism,” equivalent to Medieval Latin recrīmināt(us), past participle of recrīminārī “to accuse in turn” + -iō -ion ( def. ); see recriminate ( def. )
Explanation
Sometimes you accuse your opponent of refusing to compromise and he accuses you of the same thing. That’s a recrimination, an accusation or insult that’s hurled back at someone. If you’ve ever been in a verbal disagreement with someone, odds are that you’ve experienced recriminations. You can remember it by noticing that crim as in "crime" is part of the word. When recriminations fly back and forth between two sides, each accuses the other of crimes in the metaphorical sense. Once the emergencies of a disaster have been taken care of, recriminations are sometimes hurled at those in charge for the way the crisis was handled.
Vocabulary lists containing recrimination
Lord of the Flies
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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This Week in Words: April 6–12, 2019
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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.
This matter calls for sober deliberation with a minimum of partisanship and recrimination.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
But Yoon is far from the first South Korean leader to have his term in office end in acrimony and recrimination.
From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026
Guilt, recrimination and blame won’t help now, and it can be counterproductive.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 28, 2025
The moves drew recrimination from outgoing President Joe Biden.
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2025
"That's what I said! I said about our meetings and things and then you said shut up-" His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous recrimination.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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.
