ascribe

verb

as·​cribe ə-ˈskrīb 

ascribed; ascribing

transitive verb

: to refer to a supposed cause, source, or author : to say or think that (something) is caused by, comes from, or is associated with a particular person or thing

These poems are usually ascribed to Homer.

They ascribe most of their success to good timing and good luck.

She ascribes no importance to having a lot of money.

ascribable

ə-ˈskrī-bə-bəl 

adjective

Synonyms of ascribe

• attribute

Choose the Right Synonym for ascribe

ascribe, attribute, assign, impute, credit mean to lay something to the account of a person or thing.

ascribe suggests an inferring or conjecturing of cause, quality, authorship.

forged paintings formerly ascribed to masters

attribute suggests less tentativeness than ascribe, less definiteness than assign.

attributed to Rembrandt but possibly done by an associate

assign implies ascribing with certainty or after deliberation.

assigned the bones to the Cretaceous period

impute suggests ascribing something that brings discredit by way of accusation or blame.

tried to impute sinister motives to my actions

credit implies ascribing a thing or especially an action to a person or other thing as its agent, source, or explanation.

credited his teammates for his success

Examples of ascribe in a Sentence

ascribed their stunning military victory to good intelligence beforehand

Recent Examples on the Web

Wednesday’s verdict in Los Angeles on the ninth day of jury deliberations shows the difficulty of ascribing how much social media is to blame for youths suffering varying degrees of distress. —Bloomberg, 25 Mar. 2026

Economists generally have calculated that whatever economic growth could be ascribed to the change would be washed out by the revenue loss from inflation-indexing only new purchases, and utterly swamped by the cost of indexing all holdings, past and future. —Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026

And to dust off some golden-oldie phraseology that fans, friends and media often ascribe to great athletes who’ve made epic falls, Ilia Malinin will be back. —Steve Buckley, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026

However, the benefits the city has ascribed to data center development have not assuaged concerns about potential environmental harm. —Devan Patel, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin ascribere, from ad- + scribere to write — more at scribe

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ascribe

• ascribe (something) to

Rhymes for ascribe

• describe
• imbibe
• inscribe
• prescribe
• proscribe
• subscribe
• transcribe
• bribe
• gibe
• jibe
• tribe
• vibe

Kids Definition

ascribe

verb

as·​cribe ə-ˈskrīb 

ascribed; ascribing

: to think of as coming from a specified cause, source, or author

a statement ascribed to Plato

ascribable

-ˈskrī-bə-bəl 

adjective