blame
Americanverb (used with object)
-
blames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blamed,
past participle, past
-
blaming
present participle
-
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 byon ).
I blame the accident on her.
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Informal. blast; damn (used as a mild curse).
Blame the rotten luck.
noun
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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
-
responsibility for anything deserving of censure.
We must all share the blame for this deplorable condition.
- Synonyms:
- sin, fault, culpability, guilt
idioms
noun
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responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure; culpability
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an expression of condemnation; reproof
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to be at fault or culpable
verb
-
(usually foll by for) to attribute responsibility to; accuse
I blame him for the failure
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(usually foll by on) to ascribe responsibility for (something) to
I blame the failure on him
-
to find fault with
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.
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
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blamernoun
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self-blamenoun
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overblameverb (used with object)
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blamableadjective
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unblamingadjective
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blamablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blamesimple
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blamessimple
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have blamedperfect
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has blamedperfect
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am blamingprogressive
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are blamingprogressive
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is blamingprogressive
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have been blamingperfect progressive
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has been blamingperfect progressive
Past
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blamedsimple
-
had blamedperfect
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was blamingprogressive
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were blamingprogressive
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had been blamingperfect progressive
Future
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” ( see blaspheme); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
Blame is about being responsible for something that's bad or has gone wrong. If you have a headache, you might blame it on the heat, or on not getting enough sleep. A person can be to blame for something. Your mom might walk into the house, see a broken lamp and blame you. Often, in official contexts, blame is "assigned" or "placed." A common complaint among younger siblings is, "Why do I always get blamed for everything?"
Vocabulary lists containing blame
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 4
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"The Jacket"
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
Raman’s critics say she deserves some of the blame for the city’s increase in homelessness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
All the defendants will also likely blame Walker for her own condition, given that she suffered from a constellation of issues before becoming pregnant.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
Another datapoint released at the same time could be to blame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
It also challenged the premise that rising materials costs were largely to blame for certain cost overruns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
I’m not taking the blame for this fight.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Phillips never denies she is an unlikable heroine but blames sexism for her professional collapse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Cohen blames other departments’ delays in turning over data as part of the reason for its chronic lateness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
In the lawsuit, he blames Metrolink’s improper care of its aging fleet of trains for several incidents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
He blames cellphones, saying, “There’s more money being stolen with that phone than there’s ever been with a gun.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Ever since Nani died, Mummy’s been...different. Like she blames me or something.”
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
State medical organizations, in turn, blamed lawmakers for writing ambiguous laws that offered no guidance about when doctors can intervene.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
Wildfires in Indonesia are blamed in large part on slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that result in the destruction of fire-resistant forest cover and the draining of peatlands.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
And while GM Brandon Gomes publicly blamed the “ebbs and flows” of a season and not knee inflammation or biceps tightness, Ohtani waved wildly at pitches and piled up 22 strikeouts in 14 games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
It marked the start of a reckoning for the British tabloid media, which was blamed for hounding her after the car in which she was a passenger was chased by paparazzi before crashing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Me, I never blamed anyone for the accident, least of all Tyler.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
“They basically dug their own grave,” Abbott said to ABC, blaming tech companies for moving too fast without consulting local stakeholders.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
Prominent AI author and regular OpenAI critic Gary Marcus said on a podcast that he believes the company has lost control of its AI and is trying to excuse itself by blaming the bots.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The former leader quit the helm with two years left of his second term in 2005, blaming poor health.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
But when he posted on Reddit about his experience, he got a different response from Bilt about the source of the problem, blaming a different banking partner.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026
He realized that he had been on the verge of blaming her for Tali’s death, but he couldn’t.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
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.
