1
as in ascribing
to explain (something) as being the result of something else
attributed the quick rescue to the well-trained police force
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in explaining
to give the reason for or cause of
a psychotherapist who's a little too quick to attribute every emotional problem or character defect to an unhappy childhood
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of attributing
No definitive cause was reported, though the Tribune ran one story attributing the explosion to a static spark lighting the highly flammable hydrogen gas.
—
Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2026
The Virginia house of burgesses voted to thank him and the militia for their service, with the lawmakers attributing the defeat to the failure of the other colonies to come to Virginia’s aid.
—Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
Yeah, add that to the long list of unsupported claims about these vaccines that have ranged from various anti-vaxxers asserting that the vaccines will turn you into a gigantic magnet to attributing seemingly every celebrity illness and death during the COVID-19 pandemic to the COVID-19 vaccines.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Slok has previously invoked Jevons paradox to explain why AI will actually create more jobs overall, despite some employers attributing layoffs to the technology.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 10 May 2026
At the time, the state geologist of Massachusetts and the American science establishment were incorrectly attributing the same landscape to an iceberg-laden catastrophic flood.
—Robert M. Thorson, The Conversation, 8 May 2026
The Jets tried to downplay the significance of Hellebuyck’s words, attributing them to normal emotions that follow a playoffs miss.
—Murat Ates, New York Times, 4 May 2026
Ross defended the decision, pointing to the budget gap and attributing part of the shortfall to the Tarrant Appraisal District delaying new home assessments until next year.
—Sergio Candido, CBS News, 3 May 2026
The Only Murders in the Building star previously addressed speculation about changes in her appearance and mannerisms, attributing the differences to her ongoing battle with lupus and her bipolar disorder diagnosis.
—Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 2 Apr. 2026
Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2026
The Virginia house of burgesses voted to thank him and the militia for their service, with the lawmakers attributing the defeat to the failure of the other colonies to come to Virginia’s aid.
—Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
Yeah, add that to the long list of unsupported claims about these vaccines that have ranged from various anti-vaxxers asserting that the vaccines will turn you into a gigantic magnet to attributing seemingly every celebrity illness and death during the COVID-19 pandemic to the COVID-19 vaccines.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Slok has previously invoked Jevons paradox to explain why AI will actually create more jobs overall, despite some employers attributing layoffs to the technology.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 10 May 2026
At the time, the state geologist of Massachusetts and the American science establishment were incorrectly attributing the same landscape to an iceberg-laden catastrophic flood.
—Robert M. Thorson, The Conversation, 8 May 2026
The Jets tried to downplay the significance of Hellebuyck’s words, attributing them to normal emotions that follow a playoffs miss.
—Murat Ates, New York Times, 4 May 2026
Ross defended the decision, pointing to the budget gap and attributing part of the shortfall to the Tarrant Appraisal District delaying new home assessments until next year.
—Sergio Candido, CBS News, 3 May 2026
The Only Murders in the Building star previously addressed speculation about changes in her appearance and mannerisms, attributing the differences to her ongoing battle with lupus and her bipolar disorder diagnosis.
—Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for attributing
Verb
-
The group immediate drew praise on social media for not ascribing the cancellation to anything beyond the most obvious factors.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
4 May 2026
-
Wednesday’s verdict in Los Angeles on the ninth day of jury deliberations shows the difficulty of ascribing how much social media is to blame for youths suffering varying degrees of distress.—
Bloomberg,
Bloomberg,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Narula discussed the potential links between GLP-1s and breast cancer, explaining that after menopause, fat cells produce estrogen throughout the body, and higher levels of estrogen could translate to a higher risk of breast cancer.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 June 2026
-
After taking fans along to a series of appointments, Mellencamp posted a video of her doctor explaining the status of her disease.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
These acknowledgments typically give specific details about how the tool was used, including directly crediting them for methods and discoveries where appropriate.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
1 June 2026
-
But these days, Handibode seems more comfortable crediting others.—
Howard Cohen,
Miami Herald,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
The business momentum is clear here, justifying the stock’s strong performance over the past four to five weeks.—
Jeff Marks,
CNBC,
2 June 2026
-
Perhaps the Thunder would see the upside of a SGA-Giannis-J-Dub core as justifying the risk of cutting down their depth to that extent.—
Bryan Toporek,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Attributing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/attributing. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
