Thesaurus results for ATTRIBUTING

attributing

verb

present participle of attribute

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

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 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 Anthropomorphism means attributing human characteristics to non-human objects. —

Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 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 The petition cited recently enacted or attempted men’s sports program cuts at California Baptist, East Tennessee State and Clemson, attributing them squarely to the policy. —

Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 31 Mar. 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