1
as in ascribing
to explain (something) as being the result of something else
attributed the quick rescue to the well-trained police force
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2
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
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Recent Examples of attributing
The time to prepare for AI agents is now, and CISOs can start by establishing AI observability capable of tracking, auditing and attributing agentic behaviors across environments.
—
Josh Lemos, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Kentucky reported at least 1,223 work zone crashes in 2024, with officials attributing seven deaths and 298 injuries to those crashes.
—Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 Sep. 2025
Sure, Ghost has his creative license to put that in a skit without anyone attributing it directly to him, but the skit was funny without joking about spousal abuse.
—Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2025
As the government works to appeal the decision, state and federal officials are publicly attributing their loss in federal court to Williams, a veteran jurist appointed by former President Barack Obama.
—Ana Ceballos, Miami Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
In Los Angeles, officials recently reported a 7% rise in online academy enrollment, attributing the spike in part to immigration fears.
—Nik Popli, Time, 21 Aug. 2025
Kay misses the mark in attributing the prevalence of OCD to contemporary American culture.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Nintendo delayed pre-orders of its Switch 2 by a few weeks in April, attributing the delay to tariffs.
—Kif Leswing, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2025
ThredUp’s attributing some of its success to artificial intelligence.
—Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 6 Aug. 2025
Josh Lemos, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Kentucky reported at least 1,223 work zone crashes in 2024, with officials attributing seven deaths and 298 injuries to those crashes.
—Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 Sep. 2025
Sure, Ghost has his creative license to put that in a skit without anyone attributing it directly to him, but the skit was funny without joking about spousal abuse.
—Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2025
As the government works to appeal the decision, state and federal officials are publicly attributing their loss in federal court to Williams, a veteran jurist appointed by former President Barack Obama.
—Ana Ceballos, Miami Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
In Los Angeles, officials recently reported a 7% rise in online academy enrollment, attributing the spike in part to immigration fears.
—Nik Popli, Time, 21 Aug. 2025
Kay misses the mark in attributing the prevalence of OCD to contemporary American culture.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Nintendo delayed pre-orders of its Switch 2 by a few weeks in April, attributing the delay to tariffs.
—Kif Leswing, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2025
ThredUp’s attributing some of its success to artificial intelligence.
—Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for attributing
Verb
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Poor luck plagued him, but ascribing all of this outing to misfortune is misguided.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Police took Taddese’s phone and vehicle as evidence, which alarmed the family, Bernard said, explaining some of the family’s reservations about the police investigation.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
12 Sep. 2025
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About The Daily Money Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY, breaking down complex events, providing the TLDR version, and explaining how everything from Fed rate changes to bankruptcies impacts you.—
Betty Lin-Fisher,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Chinese authorities said that headline CPI had slipped into negative territory largely due to the high-base last year and lower food prices, while crediting the narrower decline in producer prices in part to Beijing's efforts in regulating the excessive price competition.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
10 Sep. 2025
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Davies died on Saturday after a decade-long battle with Multiple Myeloma, the band said, crediting him as creative force in the group.—
Ethan Millman,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Pentagon hasn't released information publicly justifying the destruction of the boat.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
7 Sep. 2025
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Bob felt that Clark Gilmer was 'justifying the harm' done to trans people in her comments about King.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Attributing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/attributing. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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