blame
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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.
-
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
-
responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure; culpability
-
an expression of condemnation; reproof
-
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.
Related Words
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
- blamable adjective
- blamably adverb
- blamer noun
- overblame verb (used with object)
- self-blame noun
- unblaming adjective
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” ( blaspheme ); noun derivative of the verb
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.
A week after the fact, most people finally seem to understand that the BBC and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts shoulder the blame for this situation.
From Salon
Deliver the message poorly and they will likely blame you for the problem.
Shortly after the BBC reported on the story, Marks took Marcus-Dew and another person to court, wrongly blaming them for the company's problems.
From BBC
A new documentary takes on the post-Beatles period when critics hated McCartney, and fans blamed him for breaking up the band.
A new documentary takes on the post-Beatles period when critics hated McCartney, and fans blamed him for breaking up the band.
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.
