culpability
noun
cul·pa·bil·i·ty
ˌkəl-pə-ˈbi-lə-tē 
: responsibility for wrongdoing or failure : the quality or state of being culpable
moral/legal/criminal culpability
He refuses to acknowledge his own culpability.
Culpability for our failure to reduce petroleum imports falls across the political spectrum.—
Gregg Easterbrook
Gregg EasterbrookExamples of culpability in a Sentence
cannot find culpability where there is neither knowledge that a crime has been committed nor evidence of intent to commit a crime
Recent Examples on the Web
The extension would have detained Gamboa until June 23, but Gill later said his office was unable to decide Gamboa's culpability in the shooting, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
—Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 23 June 2025
The View From Republicans Republicans used their time at the House hearing to accuse the blue-state governors of culpability in the deaths of Americans killed by non-citizens; Democrats often used theirs to say that Trump was shredding the Constitution.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 12 June 2025
His longstanding interest in free will led to the 2022 co-edited volume Agency in Mental Disorder, which brings philosophical reasoning about limits and culpability to bear on addiction, mental illness, and psychotherapy.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 9 June 2025
France released a scathing assessment of its own culpability.
—The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
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Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 23 June 2025
The View From Republicans Republicans used their time at the House hearing to accuse the blue-state governors of culpability in the deaths of Americans killed by non-citizens; Democrats often used theirs to say that Trump was shredding the Constitution.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 12 June 2025
His longstanding interest in free will led to the 2022 co-edited volume Agency in Mental Disorder, which brings philosophical reasoning about limits and culpability to bear on addiction, mental illness, and psychotherapy.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 9 June 2025
France released a scathing assessment of its own culpability.
—The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
Cite this Entry
“Culpability.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culpability. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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