exculpate

[ek-skuhl-peyt, ik-skuhl-peyt]

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verb (used with object), ex·cul·pat·ed, ex·cul·pat·ing.

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

Nearby words

Origin of exculpate

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

Related forms

ex·cul·pa·ble

[ik-skuhl-puh-buh l] /ɪkˈskʌl pə bəl/, adjectiveex·cul·pa·tion, nounnon·ex·cul·pa·ble, adverbnon·ex·cul·pa·tion, noun

self-ex·cul·pa·tion, nounun·ex·cul·pa·ble, adjectiveun·ex·cul·pat·ed, adjective

Can be confusedexculpate exonerate inculpate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for exculpate

He took incredible pains to exculpate himself by the consideration that he had obtained lawful leave of absence.
The German Lieutenant and Other Stories|August Strindberg
I must, however, exculpate the gentleman who acted as my agent, from undue persuasion exercised towards me.
An Autobiography|Anthony Trollope
The pythoness, who had endeavored to exculpate him, proved to be his aunt and accomplice.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, December 1898|Various
She showed increasing irritation at his attempt to exculpate her.
Nan of Music Mountain|Frank H. Spearman

Then he plunged to the heart of the matter, as though in haste to exculpate himself.
A Hoosier Chronicle|Meredith Nicholson

British Dictionary definitions for exculpate

exculpate

verb

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

Derived Formsexculpable (ɪkˈskʌlpəbəl), adjectiveexculpation, nounexculpatory, adjective

Word Origin for exculpate

C17: from Medieval Latin exculpāre, from Latin ex- 1 + culpāre to blame, from culpa fault, blame

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for exculpate

exculpate

1650s, from Medieval Latin exculpatus, past participle of exculpare, from Latin ex culpa, from ex "from" (see ex-) + culpa ablative of culpa "blame, fault." Related: Exculpated; exculpating.