exculpate

verb ex·cul·pate \ ˈek-(ˌ)skəl-ˌpāt , (ˌ)ek-ˈskəl- \

Definition of exculpate

exculpated; exculpating

transitive verb

: to clear from alleged fault or guilt

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exculpation

play \ˌek-(ˌ)skəl-ˈpā-shən\ noun

See exculpate defined for English-language learners

See exculpate defined for kids

exculpate was our Word of the Day on 12/11/2008. Hear the podcast!

Examples of exculpate in a Sentence

The court exculpated him after a thorough investigation.
I will present evidence that will exculpate my client.

Recent Examples of exculpate from the Web

And, of course, the German military is to be exculpated, as having acted honorably.

— adam nossiter, New York Times, "Approaching 90, and Still the ‘Devil of the Republic’," 16 Mar. 2018
Nothing — nothing at all — in the Nunes Memo exculpates Donald Trump from charges of obstruction of justice or Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, Don Jr., or any other staff from charges of criminal conspiracy to collude with the Russians.

— eugene scott, Washington Post, "Partisanship is shaping people's views on the GOP memo," 2 Feb. 2018
The new e-mail, which came to light because of Brown’s lawsuit, backs up his claims, showing that the prosecutor at the time, Dan Rizzo, was aware of evidence that could exculpate Brown.

— anne branigin, The Root, "Former Texas Prosecutor Withheld Email that Could Have Prevented Innocent Man from Landing on Death Row: Report," 4 Mar. 2018
At root, the only political considerations permitted into the gun debate are those that exculpate the owners, distributors, and manufacturers of the guns.

— jacob bacharach, New Republic, "America’s Gun Sickness Goes Way Beyond Guns," 23 Feb. 2018
The president of the United States has made no comment on the deaths of four soldiers except to exculpate himself.

— david a. graham, The Atlantic, "How Trump Changed the Topic to Obama's Consolation Calls," 17 Oct. 2017
Yet for the insanity defense to live up to the moral imperative it was designed to embody — exculpating those with diminished responsibility for their acts — better mechanisms for evaluating release will need to be adopted, Slobogin says.

— mac mcclelland, New York Times, "When ‘Not Guilty’ Is a Life Sentence," 27 Sep. 2017
However the public chose to remember her, the German government exculpated Mata Hari in 1930.

— ray cavanaugh, Time, "The Spy: A Novel of Mata Hari," 13 Oct. 2017
Service makes clear that any incriminating evidence was surely scrubbed from the Soviet files in Moscow to exculpate Lenin.

— terry hartle, The Christian Science Monitor, "'The Last of the Tsars' is authoritative, definitive, and tells a compelling story," 6 Sep. 2017

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

Did You Know?

You need not take the blame if you're unfamiliar with the origins of "exculpate," but there's a hint in this sentence. The word, which was adopted in the late 17th century from Medieval Latin exculpatus, traces back to the Latin noun culpa, meaning "blame." Some other descendants of "culpa" in English include "culpable" ("meriting condemnation or blame") and "inculpate" ("incriminate"), as well as the considerably rarer "culpatory" ("accusing") and "disculpate" (a synonym of "exculpate"). You may also be familiar with the borrowed Latin phrase mea culpa, which translates directly as "through my fault" and is used in English to mean "a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error."

Origin and Etymology of exculpate

Medieval Latin exculpatus, past participle of exculpare, from Latin ex- + culpa blame

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1681

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

exculpate Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of exculpate

exculpate, absolve, exonerate, acquit, vindicate mean to free from a charge. exculpate implies a clearing from blame or fault often in a matter of small importance.

- exculpating himself from the charge of overenthusiasm

absolve implies a release either from an obligation that binds the conscience or from the consequences of disobeying the law or committing a sin.

- cannot be absolved of blame

exonerate implies a complete clearance from an accusation or charge and from any attendant suspicion of blame or guilt.

- exonerated by the investigation

acquit implies a formal decision in one's favor with respect to a definite charge.

- voted to acquit the defendant

vindicate may refer to things as well as persons that have been subjected to critical attack or imputation of guilt, weakness, or folly, and implies a clearing effected by proving the unfairness of such criticism or blame.

- her judgment was vindicated

EXCULPATE Defined for English Language Learners

exculpate

verb

Definition of exculpate for English Language Learners

: to prove that someone is not guilty of doing something wrong

Law Dictionary

exculpate

transitive verb ex·cul·pate \ ˈek-skəl-ˌpāt, ek-ˈskəl- \

legal Definition of exculpate

exculpated; exculpating

: to clear from alleged fault or guilt

as time passed, however, the…rule, which barred the admission of other persons' confessions that exculpated the accused, became the subject of increasing criticism
—Lilly v. Virginia, 527 U.S. 116 (1999)

— compare acquit, exonerate

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