culpable

adjective cul·pa·ble \ ˈkəl-pə-bəl \

Updated on: 7 Apr 2018

Definition of culpable

1 archaic : guilty, criminal

2 : meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful

culpable negligence

The defendant is culpable for her actions.

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culpability

play \ˌkəl-pə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

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culpableness

play \ˈkəl-pə-bəl-nəs\ noun

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culpably

play \ˈkəl-pə-blē\ adverb

See culpable defined for English-language learners

See culpable defined for kids

Examples of culpable in a Sentence

They held her culpable for the accident.
He's more culpable than the others because he's old enough to know better.

Recent Examples of culpable from the Web

Another tweet called him, quote, a bigot who was ideologically little different from Hitler and who was culpable in the starvation death of 3 million Bengalis.

— Fox News, "Broward County Sheriff's Office responds to criticism," 7 Mar. 2018
Clearly, Officer Noor violated the rules and deserves to be charged.’’ Noor is charged with third-degree murder for perpetrating an eminently dangerous act and second-degree manslaughter for culpable negligence creating unreasonable risk.

— amy forliti, BostonGlobe.com, "Minneapolis officer charged in shooting of Australian woman," 21 Mar. 2018
Bourdain is the inescapable truth that the individual is culpable.

— tunde wey, San Francisco Chronicle, "The power of those who get to tell the stories," 18 Mar. 2018
The reality is that all persons in possession of a certain weight are not equally culpable.

— ruth brown, idahostatesman, "Lawmakers may ease rigid prison sentences, dating to Idaho’s war on drugs | Idaho Statesman," 7 Mar. 2018
Before the game, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, who coached Wisconsin in the mid-90s, said the NCAA and college presidents should be culpable along with coaches, for college basketball’s current troubles.

— rick bonnell, charlotteobserver, "Charlotte Hornets jump on Detroit Pistons early for home win | Charlotte Observer," 25 Feb. 2018
The driver is culpable for the failure to report the accident and is a municipal offense, Garcia said.

— karen pilarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Driver apprehended in hit-and-run accident in Brookfield," 5 Mar. 2018
The girl was found culpable of criminally negligent homicide by a Family Court judge and sentenced to six months in a juvenile facility for the 2016 death of Amy Joyner-Francis.

— Washington Post, "Court overturns conviction in fatal school bathroom attack," 1 Mar. 2018
By failing to impose a meaningful sanction on the ROC, the IOC would be culpable in this effort to defraud clean athletes of the world.

— rachel axon, USA TODAY, "The IOC barely punished Russia for doping. Will that embolden other countries?," 25 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'culpable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of culpable

Middle English coupable, from Anglo-French cupable, culpable, from Latin culpabilis, from culpare to blame, from culpa guilt

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First Known Use: 14th century

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culpable Synonyms

Phrases

at fault;

Synonym Discussion of culpable

blameworthy, blamable, guilty, culpable mean deserving reproach or punishment. blameworthy and blamable apply to any degree of reprehensibility.

- conduct adjudged blameworthy
- an accident for which no one is blamable

guilty implies responsibility for or consciousness of crime, sin, or, at the least, grave error or misdoing.

- guilty of a breach of etiquette

culpable is weaker than guilty and is likely to connote malfeasance or errors of ignorance, omission, or negligence.

- culpable neglect

CULPABLE Defined for English Language Learners

culpable

adjective

Definition of culpable for English Language Learners

: deserving blame : guilty of doing something wrong

Law Dictionary

culpable

adjective cul·pa·ble \ ˈkəl-pə-bəl \

legal Definition of culpable

: deserving condemnation or blame as wrong or harmful

—

culpability

play \ˌkəl-pə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

—

culpableness

noun

—

culpably

adverb

Learn More about culpable

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for culpable Spanish Central: Translation of culpable Nglish: Translation of culpable for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of culpable for Arabic speakers

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culpable

Definition of culpable

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Origin and Etymology of culpable

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CULPABLE Defined for English Language Learners

culpable

Definition of culpable for English Language Learners

Law Dictionary

culpable

legal Definition of culpable

culpability

culpableness

culpably

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