SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
culpable
adjective
Deserving blame for a fault or wrongdoing.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Deserving blame
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topResponsible can be neutral; culpable specifically attributes blame for wrongful conduct.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See culpable in use
A person who knowingly concealed the error could be culpable.
A design contest discovered that one entrant had submitted another person's work under her own name. The panel considered her culpable because she had knowingly claimed authorship.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license