adj
Meaning 1
euphemism of damn (intensifier)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
blame
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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blām
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/bleɪm/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -eɪm
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CMU ARPABET: B L EY1 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Censure.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
- Blame came from all directions.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dispraise, disapprobation, disapproval, attainder, attainture, attaintment, blame, censure, condemnation, condemning, damnation, improbation, reprehension, admonishment, brickbatting, castigation, onus, chastisement, criticism, critique, discommendation, panning, vituperation
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Culpability for something negative or undesirable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
- The blame for starting the fire lies with the arsonist.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Responsibility for something meriting censure.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
- They accepted the blame, but it was an accident.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A source control feature that can show which user was responsible for a particular portion of the source code.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
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).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive, usually
Examples
- The student driver was blamed for the accident.
- After what happened at the wedding, I wouldn't blame you if you never spoke to them again.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hold to account, hold someone responsible, hold someone accountable
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To assert the cause of some bad event.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- We blamed the accident on the student driver.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To censure (someone or something); to criticize.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: reproach, shend, take to task, upbraid, fault, find fault, admonish, animadvert, bash, bawl out, slash, lash, blame, scorch, blast, berate, berisp, castigate, censure, charge, chastise, chew out, chide, condemn, criticize, denounce, denunciate, deprecate, derogate, dispraise, drag, dress down, eat someone alive, excoriate, fulminate, get at, get down, get up, give somebody a piece of one's mind, give somebody what-for, inveigh, lace into, lambaste, lay into, lecture, light into, objurgate, pooh-pooh, put someone on blast, rate, read somebody the riot act, rebuke, reprehend, reprimand, reprove, rip into, rubbish, savage, scold, skewer, slam, slate, tear into, tell off, threap, tick off, tosh, keelhaul, vilify, vituperate
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 9
To bring into disrepute.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: besmirch, blacken, disgrace, assassinate, asperse, backbite, badmouth, befoul, belibel, besmear, bewray, blame, blaze, blemish, blot, blur, calumniate, calumny, chat shit, chat shite, cloud, defame, demonize, denigrate, deprave, depreciate, detract, dirty, discredit, disparage, disrepute, diss, drag through the mud, forgab, forspeak, foul, infamize, lampoon, libel, malign, monsterize, muddy, reproach, revile, scandal, shit-talk, slag, slander, smear, smirch, spatter, spot, speak ill of, stab, stain, sully, talk shit, talk shite, talk trash, tarnish, torch, traduce, trash-talk, unflatter, vilify, vilipend, villainize, wrong
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 10
expletives used informally as intensifiers
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he's a blasted idiot
- it's a blamed shame
- a blame cold winter
- not a blessed dime
- I'll be damned (or blessed or darned or goddamned) if I'll do any such thing
- he's a damn (or goddam or goddamned) fool
- a deuced idiot
- an infernal nuisance
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: blasted, blamed, blessed, damn, damned, darned, deuced, goddam, goddamn, goddamned, infernal
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he took the blame for it
- it was a bum rap
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: rap
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: reproach
noun
Meaning 12
an accusation that you are responsible for some lapse or misdeed
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- his incrimination was based on my testimony
- the police laid the blame on the driver
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: incrimination, inculpation
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: accusation, accusal
Narrower terms: self-incrimination
verb
Meaning 13
attribute responsibility to
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- We blamed the accident on her
- The tragedy was charged to her inexperience
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: charge
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: impute, ascribe, assign, attribute
verb
Meaning 14
put or pin the blame on
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fault
Antonyms: absolve
Broader terms: charge, accuse
verb
Meaning 15
harass with constant criticism
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Don't always pick on your little brother
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: find fault, pick
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: knock, criticize, criticise, pick apart
History
Etymology
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).
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”).
Across languages
Translations
128 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: لَوْم (lawm) — state of having caused a bad event
- Arabic: مَلَامَة (malāma) — state of having caused a bad event
- Arabic: لوم (lōm) — state of having caused a bad event
- Armenian: մեղք (meġkʻ) — state of having caused a bad event
- Bulgarian: вина (vina) — state of having caused a bad event
- Catalan: culpa — state of having caused a bad event
- Chinese Mandarin: 責備 /责备 (zébèi) — state of having caused a bad event
- Dutch: schuld — state of having caused a bad event
- Finnish: syyllisyys — state of having caused a bad event
- French: coupabilité — state of having caused a bad event
- French: blâme — state of having caused a bad event
- German: Schuld — state of having caused a bad event
- Hebrew: אשמה (ashmá) — state of having caused a bad event
- Irish: milleán — state of having caused a bad event
- Italian: colpa — state of having caused a bad event
- Khmer: ទោស (tooh) — state of having caused a bad event
- Korean: 비난 (binan) — state of having caused a bad event
- Korean: 탓 (tat) — state of having caused a bad event
- Korean: 원망 (wonmang) — state of having caused a bad event
- Middle English: blame — state of having caused a bad event
- Plautdietsch: Schult — state of having caused a bad event
- Polish: wina — state of having caused a bad event
- Portuguese: culpa — state of having caused a bad event
- Russian: вина́ (viná) — state of having caused a bad event
- Scottish Gaelic: cron — state of having caused a bad event
- Scottish Gaelic: coire — state of having caused a bad event
- Slovene: krivda — state of having caused a bad event
- Spanish: culpa — state of having caused a bad event
- Swedish: skuld — state of having caused a bad event
- Turkish: suç — state of having caused a bad event
- Urdu: دوش (doś) — state of having caused a bad event
- Venetan: colpa — state of having caused a bad event
- Vietnamese: lỗi — state of having caused a bad event
- Arabic: لَامَ (lāma) — place blame upon
- Arabic: لام (lām) — place blame upon
- Armenian: մեղադրել (meġadrel) — place blame upon
- Belarusian: вінава́ціць (vinavácicʹ) — place blame upon
- Belarusian: абвінава́чваць (abvinaváčvacʹ) — place blame upon
- Bengali: দোষ দেওয়া (dōś deōẇa) — place blame upon
- Bengali: এলজাম দেওয়া (eljam deōẇa) — place blame upon
- Bulgarian: виня (vinja) — place blame upon
- Bulgarian: обвинявам (obvinjavam) — place blame upon
- Catalan: culpar — place blame upon
- Cherokee: ᎠᏚᎯᏍᏗᎭ (aduhisdiha) — place blame upon
- Chinese Mandarin: 責備 /责备 (zébèi) — place blame upon
- Chinese Mandarin: 責怪 /责怪 (zéguài) — place blame upon
- Chinese Mandarin: 怪 (guài) — place blame upon
- Czech: vinit — place blame upon
- Czech: obviňovat — place blame upon
- Danish: skylde — place blame upon
- Danish: bebrejde — place blame upon
- Danish: dadle — place blame upon
- Dutch: beschuldigen — place blame upon
- Dutch: verwijten — place blame upon
- Dutch: wijten — place blame upon
- Esperanto: riproĉi — place blame upon
- Esperanto: mallaŭdi — place blame upon
- Esperanto: kulpigi — place blame upon
- Estonian: süüdistama — place blame upon
- Finnish: syyttää — place blame upon
- French: reprocher — place blame upon
- French: blâmer — place blame upon
- Galician: culpar — place blame upon
- Galician: culpabilizar — place blame upon
- Galician: inculpar — place blame upon
- Galician: botar a culpa — place blame upon
- German: beschuldigen — place blame upon
- German: verantwortlich machen — place blame upon
- Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (fairinōn) — place blame upon
- Ancient Greek: μέμφομαι (mémphomai) — place blame upon
- Ancient Greek: ὄνομαι (ónomai) — place blame upon
- Hebrew: האשים (he'eshím) — place blame upon
- Hungarian: hibáztat — place blame upon
- Hungarian: okol — place blame upon
- Hungarian: kárhoztat — place blame upon
- Ido: blamar — place blame upon
- Indonesian: menuduh — place blame upon
- Indonesian: menyalahi — place blame upon
- Ingrian: soolata — place blame upon
- Italian: incolpare — place blame upon
- Italian: biasimare — place blame upon
- Italian: dare torto — place blame upon
- Japanese: 責める (semeru) — place blame upon
- Japanese: -のせいにする (sei-ni suru) — place blame upon
- Korean: 비난하다 (binanhada) — place blame upon
- Korean: 탓하다 (tathada) — place blame upon
- Korean: 원망하다 (wonmanghada) — place blame upon
- Latin: culpō — place blame upon
- Macedonian: обвинува (obvinuva) — place blame upon
- Macedonian: обвини (obvini) — place blame upon
- Māori: uapare — place blame upon
- Māori: whakatuaki — place blame upon
- Māori: whakarare — place blame upon
- Middle English: blamen — place blame upon
- Norwegian: skylde — place blame upon
- Occitan: blaimar — place blame upon
- Old English: tǣlan — place blame upon
- Oromo: komachuu — place blame upon
- Persian: سرزنش کردن — place blame upon
- Polish: winić — place blame upon
- Polish: obwiniać — place blame upon
- Polish: obwinić — place blame upon
- Portuguese: culpar — place blame upon
- Quechua: tumpai — place blame upon
- Romanian: inculpa — place blame upon
- Romanian: învinui — place blame upon
- Romanian: învinovăți — place blame upon
- Romanian: blama — place blame upon
- Russian: вини́ть (vinítʹ) — place blame upon
- Russian: обвиня́ть (obvinjátʹ) — place blame upon
- Russian: обвини́ть (obvinítʹ) — place blame upon
- Serbo-Croatian: кривити — place blame upon
- Serbo-Croatian: kriviti — place blame upon
- Slovak: viniť — place blame upon
- Slovak: obviňovať — place blame upon
- Slovene: kriviti — place blame upon
- Spanish: culpar — place blame upon
- Spanish: culpabilizar — place blame upon
- Spanish: echar la culpa — place blame upon
- Spanish: inculpar — place blame upon
- Swedish: skylla — place blame upon
- Swedish: klandra — place blame upon
- Thai: โทษ (tôot) — place blame upon
- Turkish: suçlamak — place blame upon
- Turkish: suç atmak — place blame upon
- Ukrainian: вини́ти (vynýty) — place blame upon
- Ukrainian: винува́тити (vynuvátyty) — place blame upon
- Ukrainian: звинува́чувати (zvynuváčuvaty) — place blame upon