ENGLISH
REFERENCE

be to blame for sth

idiom
Meaning

to be the person or thing that caused something bad to happen.


Examples
SIMPLE

I think the heavy rain is to blame for the traffic.

CONTEXTUAL

The manager realized that poor communication was to blame for the project failing to meet its deadline.

COMPLEX

While the company initially claimed a technical glitch was to blame for the data breach, an independent investigation later revealed that human error had played a significant role.

Last updated April 22, 2026