blameless
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does blameless mean? Blameless is used to describe someone who hasn’t done anything wrong—they haven’t done anything to be blamed for.To blame someone for something is to accuse them of having caused it or to hold them responsible for it. The word blame is always used in the context of something bad that happened—you don’t blame someone for something good. When someone is blamed for something, it doesn’t mean they are guilty of it—it simply means they are being accused of being guilty of it.However, the word blameless typically implies that a person is completely innocent. It’s often used in negative constructions to suggest the opposite.Example: Those who participated in the fraud should be held responsible, but those who knew about it and did nothing are not blameless.
Related Words
See innocent.
Other Word Forms
- blamelessly adverb
- blamelessness noun
Etymology
Origin of blameless
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 is not to say that the pizza industry is entirely blameless for its imperiled status.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
England dismissed Australia for 371 on the second morning of the third Test at the Adelaide Oval, only to slump to 42-3 and 71-4 in blameless batting conditions.
From BBC • Dec. 18, 2025
Michelle is fluent in the perky command, the passive voice, the slippery non-apology, the kind of language that frames cruelty as blameless happenstance.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025
Despite its contradictory history as a symbol of democracy built by enslaved people, it is a blameless externalization of America.
From Salon • Mar. 20, 2025
"My lady wife is blameless, Your Grace. All she did she did at my command."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
