blame
Americanverb (used with object)
-
blames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blamed,
past participle, past
-
blaming
present participle
-
to hold responsible; find fault with; censure.
I don't blame you for leaving him.
-
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
-
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
-
(usually foll by for) to attribute responsibility to; accuse
I blame him for the failure
-
(usually foll by on) to ascribe responsibility for (something) to
I blame the failure on him
-
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
-
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
-
has been blamingperfect progressive
Past
-
blamedsimple
-
had blamedperfect
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was blamingprogressive
-
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
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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:
Seoul's military said Pyongyang was attempting to shift the blame for escalating military tensions, while confirming the use of loudspeakers and warning shots as "legitimate defensive measures".
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
“And all the bad we take blame for.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
But if you’re 22, lonely and convinced every institution has given up on you, these streams offer company, community and an authority figure who takes your anger seriously and gives you someone to blame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Recent increases in sewer and trash fees, plus steadily rising water rates and higher summer water use are partly to blame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
“He won’t ever come back, and I don’t blame him one bit. Jay Berry, I don’t know about you. I just don’t know.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Wall Street blames rising interest rates for the slide in stock valuation multiples, which has impacted tech darlings like Nvidia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Vibhuti Garg of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis also blames "poor planning" for the problem.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
In the lawsuit, he blames Metrolink’s improper care of its aging fleet of trains for several incidents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
He blames cellphones, saying, “There’s more money being stolen with that phone than there’s ever been with a gun.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Jorge blames himself for traveling so much during her childhood.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
His family blamed his death on his feelings at having to wear the ankle monitor.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
Before that, a Citrini report envisioning a future where AI progress has led to widespread job losses was widely blamed for triggering a painful but short-lived selloff.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
“The nurse is the face of the hospital, and we’re constantly blamed for things outside our control,” said Juliet Etienne, 29.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
OpenAI blamed high energy costs and regulatory uncertainty for shelving the project, according to British media.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
He also suffered from chronic headaches, which he blamed on the harsh New England weather.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
For 13 years, New Mexico and Texas battled in courts over water rights, with Texas blaming New Mexican farmers for pumping too much groundwater and reducing downstream deliveries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Toxic smog is choking millions across Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, with authorities partly blaming the agricultural clearing method known as "slash and burn" for compounding the intense haze.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
But both elections will now be held on September 11, 2027, Abbas said in a decree, blaming Israeli "obstacles", according to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
On social media, influencers and fitness experts garner millions of views and likes on videos blaming cortisol for an array of concerns from belly fat to hair loss to “moon face.”
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
“Stop blaming her. She’s old. Let it go. All of it. Everything.”
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
