as in blame
responsibility for wrongdoing or failure
cannot find culpability where there is neither knowledge that a crime has been committed nor evidence of intent to commit a crime
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in guilty
deserving reproach or blame
are you any less culpable for murder if you acted in the heat of passion?
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of culpability
Carrie Lukas, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Absolving the pitching staff of culpability in the Dodgers’ fall from the top is understandable.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 25 Aug. 2025
Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
Since the oil and gas industry is responsible for about 50% of worldwide GHG emissions, the industry would be less culpable for earth’s temperature rise.
—Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
Noun
Playground operators can be held responsible for unsafe, unmaintained equipment—although damages tend to be much smaller than the United States—but courts reject culpability for injuries that happen as a part of normal playground use.
—Carrie Lukas, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Absolving the pitching staff of culpability in the Dodgers’ fall from the top is understandable.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The question of whether or not Uniqlo is fast fashion or sustainable fashion or ethical fashion has perhaps become irrelevant in a world in which fashion—no modifier needed—is increasingly culpable for the ravaging of the planet.
—Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
Since the oil and gas industry is responsible for about 50% of worldwide GHG emissions, the industry would be less culpable for earth’s temperature rise.
—Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
Recent Examples of Synonyms for culpability
Noun
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Xcel and plaintiffs’ attorneys announced the settlement Wednesday, just one day before the start of jury selection in a two-month civil trial to determine blame for the 2021 wildfire that killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County.—
Noelle Phillips,
Denver Post,
26 Sep. 2025
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Somehow, though, in the war of words, college students tend to get the blame.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Now 30, Kohberger in July pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in exchange for prosecutors dropping pursuit of the death penalty.—
Darin Oswald,
Idaho Statesman,
26 Sep. 2025
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Ritter; the clinic operator, Iris Winchester, and a recruiter, Joyce Robinson, pleaded guilty in plea agreements and were sentenced to various lesser amounts of time in prison earlier this year, according to prosecutors and court records.—
Christina Hall,
Freep.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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What lingers as the end credits roll is Daniel Day-Lewis’ noble face — full of sorrow, resentment, guilt and shame, emotions that Ray spends much of the early action masking in hardened indifference.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Sep. 2025
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The judge commented that the decision was not a ruling on his innocence or guilt, but the technical error in bringing the case.—
Thomas Smith,
Billboard,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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His Stoic Challenge framework invites you to see a setback not as something terrible, blameworthy or unfair but instead as a test of your ingenuity and resilience.—
Hanna Hart,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
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But Miss Manners acknowledges that there is also the less blameworthy impulse to offer comfort — not just sympathy — when there is no real comfort to be offered.—
Judith Martin,
The Mercury News,
11 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Culpability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/culpability. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
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