blame
verb · noun · adjective
Simple meaning
To assert or consider that someone is the cause of something negative.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
blaymIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbleɪm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitiveusually followed by "for"
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).
“We blamed the accident on her.”
transitivewith "on"
To assert the cause of some bad event.
To censure (someone or something); to criticize.
noun
Responsibility for something meriting censure.
Culpability for something negative or undesirable.
adjective
Euphemism of damn (intensifier)
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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).
Used this way, blame is a common word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“We blamed the accident on her.”
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use blame
- “We blamed the accident on her.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Accusations exchanged among people who refuse to accept sole responsibility for some undesirable event.
Definitely not.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.