culpable

adjective

cul·​pa·​ble ˈkəl-pə-bəl 

1

: meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful

culpable negligence

The defendant is culpable for her actions.

2

archaic : guilty, criminal

culpableness

ˈkəl-pə-bəl-nəs 

noun

culpably

ˈkəl-pə-blē 

adverb

Synonyms

• blamable
• blameworthy
• censurable
• reprehensible
• reproachable

Choose the Right Synonym for 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

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 on the Web

The charges against the SolarWinds CISO imply that, in any situation involving a blatant omission of material facts in reports to the investing public, the SEC will now hold culpable executives accountable. —Jim Deloach, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023

Courts and juries now commonly factor in abusive childhoods, past traumas and histories of serious mental illness that might make people less culpable for their crimes. —Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023

This spring, Harvard finalized a twelve-hundred-page report that found Gino culpable. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2023

Penn feels the loss but fights vehemently against the dovish view that the United States is somehow equally culpable in the violence for providing weapons to Ukraine. —Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 13 Sep. 2023

His attorneys have referred to the previous criminal cases as proof that their client is not culpable. —Jonah Valdez, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2023

The world’s chemical weapons watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), has found Syria’s government culpable for other chemical attacks but has not launched a fact-finding probe to attribute blame for what was by far the most serious. —Joby Warrick, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2023

An officer determined that Anita didn’t have the culpable mental state for a charge of assault. —AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2023

Prosecutors in the case that began when Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins nearly two years ago have argued that the armorer on the set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is most culpable and should face felony charges. —Elvia Limón, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2023

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Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing culpable

• culpable negligence

• culpable negligence

Kids Definition

culpable

adjective

cul·​pa·​ble ˈkəl-pə-bəl 

: deserving blame

culpability

ˌkəl-pə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

culpableness

ˈkəl-pə-bəl-nəs 

noun

culpably

ˈkəl-pə-blē 

adverb

Legal Definition

culpable

adjective

cul·​pa·​ble ˈkəl-pə-bəl 

: deserving condemnation or blame as wrong or harmful

culpability

ˌkəl-pə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

culpableness noun

culpably adverb