blame

[bleym]

verb (used with object)

blamed, blaming 

1. to hold responsible; find fault with; censure.

   I don't blame you for leaving him.

   Synonyms: criticize, reprehend, reprove, reproach

2. to place the responsibility for (a fault, error, etc.) (usually followed byon ).

   I blame the accident on her.

   Synonyms: criticize, reprehend, reprove, reproach

3. Informal.,  blast; damn (used as a mild curse).

   Blame the rotten luck.

noun

1. an act of attributing fault; censure; reproof.

   The judge said he found nothing to justify blame in the accident.

   Synonyms: animadversion, reproach, stricture, condemnation, reprehension

2. responsibility for anything deserving of censure.

   We must all share the blame for this deplorable condition.

   Synonyms: sin, fault, culpability, guilt

blame

/ bleɪm /

noun

1. responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure; culpability

2. an expression of condemnation; reproof

3. to be at fault or culpable

verb

1. (usually foll by for) to attribute responsibility to; accuse

   I blame him for the failure

2. (usually foll by on) to ascribe responsibility for (something) to

   I blame the failure on him

3. to find fault with

Usage

Some speakers avoid blame on as informal ( He blamed the fight on me ), preferring blame alone ( He blamed me ) or blame for ( He blamed me for it ). Since all three forms occur with equal frequency in educated usage, they may all be considered equally acceptable.

Other Word Forms

• blamable adjective
• blamably adverb
• blamer noun
• overblame verb (used with object)
• self-blame noun
• unblaming adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of blame¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; (for the verb) Middle English blamen, from Anglo-French, Old French blasmer, from Vulgar Latin blastēmāre (unrecorded), from Late Latin blasphēmāre “to speak irreverently, profanely” ( blaspheme ); noun derivative of the verb

Word History and Origins

Origin of blame¹

C12: from Old French blasmer , ultimately from Late Latin blasphēmāre to _blaspheme

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. to blame, at fault; censurable.

   I am to blame for his lateness.

see lay (the blame) on; to blame.

Synonym Study

Blame, censure, condemn imply finding fault with someone or something. To blame is to hold accountable for, and disapprove because of, some error, mistake, omission, neglect, or the like: Whom do you blame for the disaster? The verb censure differs from the noun in connoting scolding or rebuking even more than adverse criticism: to censure one for extravagance. To condemn is to express an adverse (especially legal) judgment, without recourse: to condemn conduct, a building, a person to death.

Example Sentences

The paramilitary group has denied responsibility and blames the violence on local militias.

From BBC

"It was always overcrowded," one said, while another blamed poor maintenance.

From BBC

In a second interview with Fox News, Hassett shifted blame to the BLS, criticizing their “bad response rates” on job number revisions.

From Salon

European governments and experts regularly blame Russia, claiming such practices fit with an alleged Kremlin strategy to generally sow disorder and undermine European security.

From BBC

The report blamed a rise in the demand for social care, which it has a legal duty to provide.

From BBC

Related Words

• accountability 
• burden 
• culpability 
• fault 
• guilt 
• liability 
• onus 

When To Use

What does blame mean?

To blame someone for something is to hold them responsible for something negative that happened. In other words, to blame them is to say or believe that they did it or that it happened because of them.A person can be blamed for a crime—meaning that they are being accused of having committed it. Blame can be used in much less serious contexts—you can blame someone for eating the last cookie, for example.In general, we blame things on people and we blame people for things. For example, in the event of a car accident, we could say that one driver is blaming the other for the accident, or that one driver is blaming the accident on the other driver.When someone is blamed for something, it doesn’t mean they are guilty of it—it simply means they are being accused of being guilty of it.The word blame can also be used as a noun referring to the responsibility for something negative that happened. This is how the word is used in the phrase assign blame. As a noun, blame can also mean the disapproval, condemnation, or criticism for something bad that happened, as in He deserves most of the blame for the loss.It’s usually people who are blamed when bad things happen, but sometimes it’s a thing, as in The power company blamed the outage on the storm.The word blame is always used in the context of something bad that happened—you don’t blame someone for something good. (However, the word can be used in an ironic way, as in Everyone thinks I became famous all by myself, but I blame all of the people who supported me.)To blame yourself is to believe that you were responsible for something bad that happened. The phrase to blame can mean responsible or at fault, as in It’s hard to tell who’s to blame in this situation.Example: My brother blamed the dog for knocking over the lamp, but my parents knew who was to blame.