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
While Richard Leeds engaged in deliberate concealment, the court’s decision underscores the importance of individual culpability when assessing penalties.
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Matthew F. Erskine, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025
The commission’s summary of errors and of horrors, its assessment of culpability, its recommendations for the future—all of these help turn trauma into history.
—Gershom Gorenberg, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2025
Eoghan O’Connell’s role in both Shrewsbury goals was high on most culpability lists, as was a distinct lack of creativity in midfield and a failure to pose any kind of threat down the left side when Ryan Barnett was causing havoc down the opposite flank.
—Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025
Twenty-nine people, mostly teenagers, were crushed on top of the nine young people who died.
Combs, thrown into his first scandal at 22 years old, denied culpability for the stampede.
—Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
Matthew F. Erskine, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025
The commission’s summary of errors and of horrors, its assessment of culpability, its recommendations for the future—all of these help turn trauma into history.
—Gershom Gorenberg, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2025
Eoghan O’Connell’s role in both Shrewsbury goals was high on most culpability lists, as was a distinct lack of creativity in midfield and a failure to pose any kind of threat down the left side when Ryan Barnett was causing havoc down the opposite flank.
—Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025
Twenty-nine people, mostly teenagers, were crushed on top of the nine young people who died.
Combs, thrown into his first scandal at 22 years old, denied culpability for the stampede.
—Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for culpability
Cite this Entry
“Culpability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/culpability. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
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