culpable

play

adjective cul·pa·ble \ ˈkəl-pə-bəl \

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

The officials said that the agency suspended the 31 workers believed most culpable and that some of the other staff members referred to by DPH had committed work-rule violations that didn't warrant being placed on leave.

— josh kovner, courant.com, "Probe: New Details on Sustained Abuse of Whiting Patient; 40 Or More Workers Had Varying Involvement," 30 Aug. 2017
Both penalties hinge on the participation, the response added, are discretionary and could be deemed inappropriate if the student-athlete isn't culpable for misconduct and received a negligible benefit that could restore eligibility.

— gary b. graves, chicagotribune.com, "Louisville appeals 'draconian' NCAA penalties in escort case," 12 Aug. 2017
Multiple Indian news outlets have since reported that Sitap is being questioned by the Mumbai Police on suspicion of culpable homicide.

— aria bendix, The Atlantic, "A Dozen Dead in Mumbai Building Collapse," 25 July 2017
The proposition was that the West should accept blame, and so should the sometimes culpable Islamic world.

— victor davis hanson, National Review, "Trump’s Anti-Cairo Speech," 11 July 2017
Professionalism dictated that Montero, as culpable as Arrieta in being one of the easiest batteries in baseball to run on, deal with the issue behind closed doors.

— david haugh, chicagotribune.com, "Cubs strike right tone in muting Miguel Montero for good," 28 June 2017
Consciously or subconsciously, educators and legal authorities may view black girls as more culpable for their actions and therefore be more inclined to punish them severely.

— natalie jacewicz, The Cut, "Black Girls Are Perceived As Less Innocent Than White Girls — Starting at Age 5," 28 June 2017
The EPA established the neighborhood as a Superfund site, a class of highly polluted areas where contributions from culpable polluters and the government pay for cleanup.

— ian graber-stiehl, The Root, "Eau de Bull: A Cologne of Arsenic and Environmental Racism for Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wood," 28 June 2017
Because by erasing Edwina (a mixed-race, whitepassing teacher) and Mattie (a house slave), Coppola opts to—intended or not—evade the responsibility of showing how white women were just as culpable in slavery as their male counterparts.

— clarkisha kent, The Root, "Sophia Coppola’s Blatant Erasure of Black Women in The Beguiled Highlights How White Women Are Complicit in White Supremacy," 25 June 2017

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

Synonyms

blamable, censurable, blameworthy, reprehensible, reproachable

Antonyms

blameless, faultless, impeccable, irreproachable

Related Words

bad, guilty, sinful, wicked; foolish, irresponsible, reckless; amerciable, chargeable, disciplinable, impeachable, indictable, punishable; criminal, illegal, illicit, unlawful; illegitimate, improper, wrongful

Near Antonyms

flawless, perfect, pure; guiltless, innocent

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

play

adjective

Definition of culpable for English Language Learners

: deserving blame : guilty of doing something wrong

Law Dictionary

culpable

play

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

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Origin and Etymology of culpable

culpable Synonyms

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CULPABLE Defined for English Language Learners

culpable

Definition of culpable for English Language Learners

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