Added 9 October 2026
blame
/bleɪm/ noun
In Latin: culpō Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about blame at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Censure.
Blame came from all directions.
-
Culpability for something negative or undesirable.
The blame for starting the fire lies with the arsonist.
-
Responsibility for something meriting censure.
They accepted the blame, but it was an accident.
verb
-
To assert or consider that someone is the cause of something negative; to place blame; to attribute responsibility (for something negative or for doing something negative).
The student driver was blamed for the accident.
-
To assert the cause of some bad event.
We blamed the accident on the student driver.
- To censure (someone or something); to criticize.
adjective
- euphemism of damn (intensifier)
Origin
From Middle English blame, borrowed from Old French blame, blasme, produced from the verb blasmer, which in turn is derived from Late Latin blastēmāre, variant of blasphēmāre, from Ancient Greek βλασφημέω (blasphēméō). Doublet of blaspheme. Displaced native Old English tǣling (“blame”) and tǣlan (“to blame”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)