blame
- 01 B1 Intermediate
v.to say or think that someone or something is the cause of a bad result.
v.to attribute responsibility for a fault or error to a specific person or cause. Transitive; typically takes a direct object followed by 'for'.
Simple“Don't blame me for the mess; I wasn't even in the kitchen.”
In context“Economists often blame the sudden market downturn on a combination of high interest rates and low consumer confidence.”
PitfallHe blamed his failure to the weather. He blamed his failure on the weather.You blame something 'on' someone, or blame someone 'for' something. Do not use 'to'.
- 02 B1 Intermediate
n.the responsibility for a mistake or something bad that has happened.
n.the state of being responsible for a negative outcome or a moral failure. Uncountable in most contexts.
Simple“The driver accepted the blame for the accident because he was speeding.”
In context“The CEO refused to take the blame for the company's losses, instead pointing to global supply chain disruptions.”
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
n.a tool in computer programming that shows which person wrote a specific line of code.
n.a feature in version control systems that annotates each line of a file with the name of the last person to modify it.
Simple“I used the blame tool to see who changed the login settings last week.”
In context“Running a git blame on the configuration file revealed that the bug was introduced during the last security patch.”
UsageOften used as a command name in software like Git.
Synonymsannotatepraise
“Over the weekend, the blame seemed to shift from Russell’s car to the driver, then back to the car again.”
“The culture of blaming parents who allow their children time on devices is also unhelpful.”
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”).
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).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.