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
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Recent Examples of culpability
That is a mischaracterization of facts put forth by the Sheriff's Department to help ease their own culpability.
—
Alex Sundby, CBS News, 21 May 2025
The producer compares the culpability of Chief of staff Kristina Khorram to that of Jeffrey Epstein’s confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 13 May 2025
With Macklem especially, the play wants to keep the issue of culpability unsettled as long as possible.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 9 May 2025
In February, an NYPD administrative judge recommended that Lieutenant Jonathan Rivera be removed from the police force without benefits after finding that Rivera broke the law, violated NYPD use-of-force protocols, and lied to cover up his culpability in the 2019 killing of Allan Feliz.
—Lourdes Rosado, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
Alex Sundby, CBS News, 21 May 2025
The producer compares the culpability of Chief of staff Kristina Khorram to that of Jeffrey Epstein’s confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 13 May 2025
With Macklem especially, the play wants to keep the issue of culpability unsettled as long as possible.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 9 May 2025
In February, an NYPD administrative judge recommended that Lieutenant Jonathan Rivera be removed from the police force without benefits after finding that Rivera broke the law, violated NYPD use-of-force protocols, and lied to cover up his culpability in the 2019 killing of Allan Feliz.
—Lourdes Rosado, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
Recent Examples of Synonyms for culpability
Noun
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So is the solution to simply shift blame from the individual back onto the industrial sector, particularly agribusiness and the fossil fuel companies?—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
11 June 2025
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Politicians reap campaign contributions and avoid blame through delegation, diffusion and plausible deniability.—
Zachary W. Schulz,
The Conversation,
6 June 2025
Noun
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As their father, Ruffalo’s charm belies a chasm of guilt, which is at the root of all that Hal & Harper is trying to uncover.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
6 June 2025
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An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt: A 36-year-old man from Chicago was arrested on a charge of criminal trespass to a vehicle at 1:01 p.m. May 29 at the police station, 1350 Aurora Ave.—
Steve Metsch,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Culpability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/culpability. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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