blame
Americanverb (used with object)
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blames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blamed,
past participle, past
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blaming
present participle
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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
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(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’s desperate to blow it up but needs someone to blame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
But what is really to blame for England finding its water supply so under threat?
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
The reflex is to blame greedy insurers and actuaries in Hartford, Conn., pricing wildfire risk in counties they couldn’t find on a map.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
“I can’t blame my lawyers and my agents at that time, but somehow we let ‘Blade Runner’ go,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
She was really worried and you couldn’t blame her, so I wasn’t too surprised when she showed up with Howard on a leash.
From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson
Money and Mental Health, a charity, also blames the design of online shopping sites for "minimising the friction around spending money".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
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
“No. She even told me one day he blames her for what happened.”
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
Some blamed the shift in sentiment on worries about increasing competition from China.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 30, 2026
Many anxiously eyed a recent price crash in Malaysia, blamed on an unusually bumper harvest.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
He blamed himself for his team’s poor performance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
Sudan has rejected the charge, saying it is surprised that its army was blamed without an independent investigation.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
“Was I jealous? Sure, but I never hated you, Poppy. I never ever blamed you either. I was happy for you. No matter what, I thought we’d always be friends.”
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
There has even been a surge of conspiracy theories blaming Patrick Clancy, Lindsay’s ex-husband and father to the deceased children, for the killings.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
A fire erupted in a hospital maternity ward in Islamabad on Wednesday killing 14 infants, Pakistan authorities said, blaming a faulty air conditioner for the blaze.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
By Friday night, those talks collapsed, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney blaming last-minute additions the U.S. reportedly sought.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
The British Beer and Pub Association and UKHospitality have also campaigned against pub closures, with both largely blaming tax rises and other costs.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Sir Grummore got up, dusting mow out of himself unhurt, blaming his spear.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
