mea culpa
Americaninterjection
noun
-
mea culpas
plural
Usage
What does mea culpa mean? Mea culpa is the Latin way of saying my bad. It literally means “through my (own) fault.”Mea culpa can be used as an interjection (much like my fault or my bad) or as a noun referring to an apology, as in The senator offered a mea culpa during the press conference. Example: Dave usually has a hard time admitting he’s wrong, so his mea culpa means a lot.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mea culpa
From Latin: literally “through my fault”; mea culpa def. 1 was first recorded in 1200–50, and mea culpa def. 2 in 1815–20; cf. culpa ( def. )
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.
Simpson, was produced 10 years after the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and just prior to “If I Did It,” perhaps the most arrogant mea culpa in the history of confessional literature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
"You didn't ask for all the flashing lights... I wish I knew the pain I caused," sings Madonna in a rare mea culpa.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
After I published a mea culpa, I never believed anyone would care.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
But at the very least, it deserves some kind of mea culpa from Becerra or lessons learned, a more robust conversation than the brush-off it’s been getting.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
Not only did she have to deliver the biggest mea culpa in NASA's history, every second of it would be remembered forever.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
