Synonyms of culpability

culpability

noun

ˌkəl-pə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

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

• blame
• guilt
• onus
• fault
• complicity
• sinfulness
• accusation
• condemnation
• rap
• blameworthiness
• guiltiness
• remorse
• censure
• denunciation
• regret
• finger-pointing
• reproach
• shame
• self-reproach

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• innocence
• blamelessness
• guiltlessness
• faultlessness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of culpability

The long delay before Davis was charged, DiGiacomo said, did not mean Las Vegas investigators doubted his culpability. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 1 Sep. 2026

Based upon their replies, occupying Allied officials ranked their culpability, then tried the worst offenders — most famously in the Nuremberg trials, but also in numerous local tribunals. — Fern Schumer Chapman, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026

But the legal system’s binary standard—sane and guilty, or insane and not—fits imperfectly with human intuitions about culpability in tragedies like the Clancys’. — Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 30 July 2026

However, both may profoundly influence culpability, competency, and the fairness of criminal proceedings. — Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 25 July 2026