blame

American  

[bleym] / bleɪm /

verb (used with object)

blamed, blaming

1. to hold responsible; find fault with; censure.

   I don't blame you for leaving him.

   Synonyms:

   criticize, reprehend, reprove, reproach

2. to place the responsibility for (a fault, error, etc.) (usually followed byon ).

   I blame the accident on her.

   Synonyms:

   criticize, reprehend, reprove, reproach

3. Informal. blast; damn (used as a mild curse).

   Blame the rotten luck.

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noun

1. 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

2. responsibility for anything deserving of censure.

   We must all share the blame for this deplorable condition.

   Synonyms:

   sin, fault, culpability, guilt

idioms

1. to blame, at fault; censurable.

   I am to blame for his lateness.

blame British  

/ bleɪm /

noun

1. responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure; culpability

2. an expression of condemnation; reproof

3. to be at fault or culpable

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verb

1. (usually foll by for) to attribute responsibility to; accuse

   I blame him for the failure

2. (usually foll by on) to ascribe responsibility for (something) to

   I blame the failure on him

3. to find fault with

blame More Idioms  

1. see lay (the blame) on; to blame.

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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.

Related Words

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

• blamable adjective
• blamably adverb
• blamer noun
• overblame verb (used with object)
• self-blame noun
• unblaming adjective

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” ( blaspheme ); noun derivative of the verb

Example Sentences

Others put the blame squarely on the United States.

From Salon

I do not think you can blame Ford, the sequence was not set up properly and it felt like tired minds all over the place.

From BBC

He also blamed the Enterprises for millions of dollars of construction-cost overruns and claimed they couldn’t attract enough members to stay afloat.

From The Wall Street Journal

Measles cases have been rising in the UK and in parts of the globe, with the increase blamed in part on poor uptake of the vaccine.

From BBC

The post was later blamed on a staff member and deleted.

From BBC

Related Words

• accountability
• burden
• culpability
• fault
• guilt
• liability
• onus