exculpate

American  

[ek-skuhl-payt, ik-skuhl-payt] / ˈɛk skʌlˌpeɪt, ɪkˈskʌl peɪt /

verb (used with object)

• exculpates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• exculpated,
  past participle,  past
• exculpating
  present participle

1. to clear from a charge of guilt or fault; free from blame; vindicate.

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exculpate British  

/ ɪkˈskʌlpeɪt, ˈɛkskʌlˌpeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to free from blame or guilt; vindicate or exonerate

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• exculpation
  noun
• exculpable
  adjective
• exculpatory
  adjective
• unexculpable
  adjective
• unexculpated
  adjective
• nonexculpable
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• exculpating
  present
• exculpated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• exculpate
  simple
• exculpates
  simple
• have exculpated
  perfect
• has exculpated
  perfect
• am exculpating
  progressive
• are exculpating
  progressive
• is exculpating
  progressive
• have been exculpating
  perfect progressive
• has been exculpating
  perfect progressive

Past

• exculpated
  simple
• had exculpated
  perfect
• was exculpating
  progressive
• were exculpating
  progressive
• had been exculpating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will exculpate
  simple
• will have exculpated
  perfect
• will be exculpating
  progressive
• will have been exculpating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of exculpate

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin exculpātus “freed from blame,” equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + culpātus “blamed” (past participle of culpāre; see culpable)

Explanation

To exculpate means to find someone not guilty of criminal charges. If you've been wrongly accused of robbery, you'd better hope a judge will exculpate you, unless you want to go to jail because you've heard prison food is amazing. Exculpate comes from two Latin words: ex-, meaning "from," and culpa, meaning "blame." Exculpate is similar in meaning to exonerate. When you exonerate someone, you clear a person of an accusation and any suspicion that goes along with it. Exculpate usually refers more directly to clearing the charges against someone. So if that judge exculpates you from the robbery charge, everyone in town might still think you did it. Get him to exculpate and exonerate you.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exculpate exculpates exculpated exculpating

Nobody doubts that a clever jurist with a dictionary and a truckload of motivated reasoning can use the law to exculpate himself and inculpate others.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2023

A trio of new evidence helped exculpate Ian Schweitzer.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 25, 2023

He devises a daring, sometimes distracting but ultimately inspired format by saving his commentary for footnotes that contextualize, teasingly contradict and occasionally exculpate Rodgers from her unsparing self-assessments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2022

“It does not vary either to exculpate on the basis of the actor’s unusual callousness or to condemn for outraging an excessively delicate relative of the deceased,” Rennie wrote, citing the Model Penal Code.

From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2022

But what the heavenly key, What marvel in me wrought Shall quite exculpate thee, I have no shadow of thought.

From The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges by Robert Bridges

In response, Bauer attorney Shawn Holley wrote: “There is no public interest in shielding those who make materially misleading complaints from disclosure of information that exculpates the alleged perpetrator.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2022

I’m not certain how to articulate what was different in a way anyone would find remotely credible, but I’m certain that it was real, and that it exculpates me.

From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2019

In one passage, a “former partner” pointedly exculpates Bell: “When the Gupta project first arose, senior members of the Geopolitical team, including Bell, were quite outspoken that we should not do it.”

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 18, 2018

Saletan believes that a distinction between historical science and modern science is what exculpates the creationist:

From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2014

"You see, sire," said the Lord of Masseran, "that she exculpates me from blame in this matter."

From Corse de Leon, Volume I (of 2) or, The Brigand; a Romance by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

However the public chose to remember her, the German government exculpated Mata Hari in 1930.

From Time ● Oct. 13, 2017

After spending decades in prison, they learned from an article in the Washington Post that prosecutors had withheld evidence that could have exculpated them.

From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2017

He was exculpated by DNA evidence and freed in 2009 after 31 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 28, 2016

The last trial was, in many ways, the most astonishing, because it came four years after new DNA evidence had exculpated Rivera.

From The New Yorker ● May 22, 2015

"He warn't thinkin' erbout me," he lamely exculpated.

From A Pagan of the Hills by Charles Neville Buck

But the judge ruled that "far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness" of her conviction.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Even Ihsan’s parents’ statements exculpating Ameen were invalid; their only admissible testimony was what was written by Dhiya, which they insist is fraudulent.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 20, 2020

Meanwhile the summary punishment of plant operatives and midlevel functionaries, exculpating Soviet brass, ranks among its “final show trials,” Higginbotham writes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2019

It ends with archive television news footage of voters largely exculpating him after the inquest in 1970.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 5, 2018

The readiest means of exculpating Germany from complicity in the Sussex affair was eagerly seized upon and clung to.

From The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 8) Battle of Jutland Bank; Russian Offensive; Kut-El-Amara; East Africa; Verdun; The Great Somme Drive; United States and Belligerents; Summary of Two Years' War by Allen L. (Allen Leon) Churchill