blame
blame
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "blame" is /bleɪm/.
/bleɪm/
/bl/ - consonant cluster
/eɪ/ - diphthong vowel
/m/ - consonant
Word Form Variations
Noun:
Singular: blame
Plural: blames (less common, usually used in specific contexts like "assigning blames")
Verb:
Base form: blame
Third-person singular present: blames
Present participle: blaming
Past tense: blamed
Past participle: blamed
Adjective: blamable / blameable (meaning deserving of blame)
Adverb: blamably / blameably (less common)
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
Definition 1: The responsibility for a fault or wrong; the act of accusing someone or something of a mistake or wrongdoing.
Synonyms: fault, culpability, accountability, responsibility, accusation, indictment
Antonyms: praise, credit, absolution, exoneration
Definition 2: A negative judgment or criticism directed towards someone or something for a perceived failing.
Synonyms: criticism, censure, reproach, condemnation, opprobrium
Antonyms: commendation, approval, applause, praise
Verb
Definition 1: To assign responsibility for a fault or wrong to someone or something.
Example: She blamed the delayed flight on the bad weather.
Synonyms: accuse, fault, hold responsible, incriminate, impute
Antonyms: absolve, exonerate, acquit, credit
Definition 2: To find fault with; to criticize or censure.
Example: You can't blame him for trying his best.
Synonyms: criticize, censure, reproach, admonish, condemn
Antonyms: praise, commend, approve, laud
Adjective
Definition: Deserving of blame; capable of being found at fault.
Example: His blamable conduct led to his dismissal.
Synonyms: culpable, guilty, reprehensible, censurable, wrongful
Antonyms: blameless, innocent, irreproachable, faultless, praiseworthy
Examples of Use
Books:
"The detective tried to understand who to blame for the elaborate heist, sifting through alibis and motives with painstaking care." (From The Silent Witness by Alex Cross, May 2024)
"She carried the blame for the company's financial downturn, a heavy burden that weighed on her every decision." (From Corporate Downfall: A Memoir by Emily Stone, October 2023)
Newspapers:
"Residents continue to blame the city council for the ongoing water shortages, citing years of neglected infrastructure." ( The Daily Herald)
"In an editorial, the newspaper put the blame squarely on the opposing party for the legislative deadlock." ( The Globe Post)
Online Publications:
"Many climate scientists blame human activity for the accelerating pace of global warming." ( National Geographic Online)
"The tech CEO took the blame for the recent data breach, promising swift action to rectify the security vulnerabilities." ( TechCrunch)
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Film: "Don't blame me for your bad choices!" a character exclaimed in the dramatic courtroom scene. (From the film Consequences, released December 2024)
Television Series: "The entire episode revolved around who was to blame for the mysterious disappearance." (Episode summary for Mystery Solved, streamed on NetFlex, September 2024)
Music (Song Title/Lyrics): "You can blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots." (From the Garth Brooks song "Friends in Low Places", released August 1990)
Video Game: A mission objective stated: "Find out who's to blame for the malfunction in the central reactor." (From the game Cyberpunk Odyssey, May 2024 update)
General Public Discourse:
"It's easy to blame the economy for everything, but sometimes individual decisions play a bigger role." (Heard in a local café discussion)
"No one wants to take the blame when things go wrong, but accountability is crucial for progress." (Comment on an online forum discussing local politics)
10 Quotes Using Blame
"You can't blame gravity for falling in love." (Albert Einstein)
"Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future." (John F. Kennedy)
"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." (John Burroughs)
"When you blame others, you give up your power to change." (Robert Anthony)
"A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." (Arnold H. Glasow)
"Your life is the fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself." (Joseph Campbell)
"If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees." (Khalil Gibran)
"There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us." (Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray)
"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." (George Bernard Shaw)
"All blame is a waste of time." (Wayne Dyer)
Etymology
The word "blame" has a really interesting journey through languages!
It originally comes from an ancient Greek word, blasphemeo, which meant "to speak impiously or irreverently of God or sacred things," and also had a sense of "to revile" or "to reproach."
This Greek word traveled into Late Latin as blasphemare. From there, it moved into Old French as blasmer (around the 12th century), meaning "to rebuke, reprimand, condemn, or criticize."
English then borrowed "blame" from Old French during the Middle English period (around 1150-1500). The earliest known use of "blame" as a verb (meaning "to find fault with") appeared around 1200. The earliest known use of "blame" as a noun (meaning "an act or expression of disapproval") appeared slightly later, around 1230.
So, in a nutshell, "blame" started with a strong connection to speaking against the sacred, then softened a bit to mean criticizing or finding fault with someone or something. It replaced older English words that meant similar things, like "tælan." Interestingly, you can still see its older, stronger root in the word "blaspheme," which is a "doublet" (a word with the same origin but a different path into English) of "blame."
Phrases + Idioms Containing Blame
To blame someone for something: To hold someone responsible for a fault or error.
To take the blame: To accept responsibility for something, even if one is not entirely at fault.
To put the blame on someone/something: To assign responsibility to a particular person or thing.
To lay the blame at someone's door: To accuse someone of being responsible for a problem.
To shift the blame: To try to make someone else responsible for a fault.
To be beyond/past blame: To be so good or innocent that one cannot be accused of anything.
To be to blame: To be responsible for something negative.
No one to blame but yourself: You are solely responsible for your situation.
A blame game: A situation where people or groups try to assign responsibility to each other rather than solve a problem.
Don't blame me! An exclamation used to deny responsibility.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of blame from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
