culpability

Sometimes culpa·ble·ness

[kuhl-puh-bil-i-tee]

noun

1. guilt or blame that is deserved; blameworthiness.

Other Word Forms

• nonculpability noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of culpability¹

culpabl(e) + -ity

Example Sentences

Gandbhir, though, trusts our instincts for clarity, confident that the accumulation of incidents makes the culpability unmistakable.

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At this time, police say they do not know if there is “any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body.”

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Making things all the more difficult was the culpability that some players beared for the team’s fortunes.

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Kopaniarz was told by a judge his "deliberate and unconscionable decision" to dispose of his phone, was the "action of a desperate man trying to minimise your culpability".

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I dig that kind of culpability: a film that doesn’t point sanctimonious fingers but insists we’re all to blame.

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Related Words

• accountability 
• guilt 

When To Use

What does culpability mean?

Culpability is the quality of being culpable—deserving blame for a crime or wrongdoing.When someone is described as culpable for something, it means it’s their fault or that they are guilty of it. Culpability is the guilt or blame that a person deserves.The words culpable and culpability are typically used in serious legal contexts involving crimes.Example: It’s the job of a jury to assign or reject culpability for a crime.