What does "blame" mean?
Censure.
Blame
/bleɪm/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Censure.
- Grammar: blame is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: fault, account for, accountability, accountability.
- Useful contrasts: nice exclamation, absolution, absolving.
- Usage evidence: Censorious people delight in casting blame.
How to use "blame"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "blame" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "blame" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "blame" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "blame" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "blame" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "fault" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "blame", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Censure. uncountable
"Blame came from all directions."
- 2 a reproach for some lapse or misdeed wordnet
- 3 Culpability for something negative or undesirable. uncountable
"The blame for starting the fire lies with the arsonist."
- 4 an accusation that you are responsible for some lapse or misdeed wordnet
- 5 Responsibility for something meriting censure. uncountable
"They accepted the blame, but it was an accident."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A source control feature that can show which user was responsible for a particular portion of the source code. uncountable
Verb
- 1 To assert or consider that someone is the cause of something negative; to place blame; to attribute responsibility (for something negative or for doing something negative). transitive, usually
"The student driver was blamed for the accident."
- 2 attribute responsibility to wordnet
- 3 To assert the cause of some bad event. transitive
"We blamed the accident on the student driver."
- 4 put or pin the blame on wordnet
- 5 To censure (someone or something); to criticize.
"though my loue be not so lewdly bent, / As those ye blame, yet may it nought appease / My raging smart [...]."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 harass with constant criticism wordnet
- 7 To bring into disrepute. obsolete
"For knighthoods loue, do not so foule a deed, / Ne blame your honour with so shamefull vaunt / Of vile reuenge."
Adjective
- 1 euphemism of damn (intensifier) not-comparable
""He yarns good," said Tom Platt. "T'other night he told us abaout a kid of his own size steerin' a cunnin' little rig an' four ponies up an' down Toledo, Ohio, I think 'twas, an' givin' suppers to a crowd o' sim'lar kids. Cur'us kind o' fairy-tale, but blame interestin'. He knows scores of 'em.""
Adjective
- 1 expletives used informally as intensifiers wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Censorious people delight in casting blame."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "blame"?
Common synonyms include: fault, account for, accountability, accountability, accounting for, accredit.
How do you use "blame" in a sentence?
Censorious people delight in casting blame.
How do you pronounce "blame"?
Pronounced /bleɪm/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English blame, borrowed from Old French blame, blasme, produced from the verb blasmer, which in turn is derived from Late Latin blastēmāre, variant of blasphēmāre, from Ancient Greek βλασφημέω (blasphēméō). Doublet of blaspheme. Displaced native Old English tǣling (“blame”) and tǣlan (“to blame”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English blamen, borrowed from Old French blasmer, from Late Latin blasphēmāre (“to reproach, to revile”), from Ancient Greek βλασφημέω (blasphēméō). Compare blaspheme, a doublet. Overtook common use from the native wite (“to blame, accuse, reproach, suspect”) (from Middle English wīten, from Old English wītan).