blame
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
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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
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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
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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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Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Jacket"
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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:
He said the emphasis should not be on pinning blame on individuals but finding the cause: "We need to know what is killing our elephants."
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The sale process comes just eight months on from Khun Top saying he is shouldering the blame for the club's drastic recent demise.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Pirro squarely placed the blame on Burgum’s office, which she claimed provided “barebones police reports” despite her asking for “everything.”
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
Polizzi said the county-wide slump in TV and film production is partially to blame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
I will always blame myself, but Storm did not blame me.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
The company blames a power company, which was working on the warehouse’s roof, for the blaze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The curve for natural-gas prices is flat — they look fairly consistent — which Smith blames on past abundance.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Management mostly blames a strained consumer and insists conditions will improve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
He blames people who stop overnight by the sides of roads in campervans and cars for the mess.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
She blames the sun for this, for the false shadows it casts in her house, and she tightens the shutters against enemy rays.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
The gulf between perception and reality then and now can’t be blamed on Mr. Netanyahu, nor TikTok or social media, which did not yet exist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Fox Business blamed the commotion on young people and their supposed addiction to “little treats.”
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
Taiwan has previously blamed Chinese hackers for carrying out most of the millions of cyberattacks affecting the island democracy on a daily basis, but did not identify a particular country in this latest incident.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The 2015-16 El Niño, while very strong in the ocean, did not, though the pattern was blamed for record beach erosion along the California coast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Farmer’s sorcery consult was with an elderly woman who blamed one of her sons, angry and jealous of a brother, for “sending” a sickness that killed the sibling.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
"Nothing encourages having even a single child," said Jaouadi, a civil servant, blaming Tunisia's current economic woes and social climate.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Medical Officer Health Report showed 36% were sure they would leave, blaming a lack of career opportunities, social and shopping choices and poor weather.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
For fiscal 2027, the company said it expects revenue to decline at a mid-single-digit percentage rate compared with the prior outlook of a slight decline, blaming softer demand in North America and Asia-Pacific.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
On Tuesday, government fire officials released their investigation into last year’s devastating Eaton fire, blaming Edison’s century-old transmission line, which the utility kept in place even though it had not carried power since 1971.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
“I once heard my mother and father blaming each other for my hair,” I said.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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.
