mea culpa
noun
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Mea culpa, which means "through my fault" in Latin, comes from a prayer of confession in the Catholic Church. Said by itself, it's an exclamation of apology or remorse that is used to mean "It was my fault" or "I apologize." Mea culpa is also a noun, however. A newspaper might issue a mea culpa for printing inaccurate information, or a politician might give a speech making mea culpas for past wrongdoings. Mea culpa is one of many English terms that derive from the Latin culpa, meaning "guilt." Some other examples are culpable ("meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful"), culprit ("one guilty of a crime or a fault"), and exculpate ("to clear from alleged fault or guilt").
Examples of mea culpa in a Sentence
Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 27 Sep. 2024
Whoopi Goldberg is offering a mea culpa for her friend Janet Jackson after the pop icon stirred controversy with her recent remarks on Vice President Kamala Harris.
—Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 24 Sep. 2024
Shannon Sharpe has issued a mea culpa after the three-time Super Bowl champion mistakenly broadcast an intimate moment to his 3M Instagram followers.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2024
In many ways, most of the updates in Black Ops 6 feel like a series of mea culpas to regular players who have seen many of their favorite features get lost in the perpetual sequelization of the franchise.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mea culpa 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mea culpa.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Mea culpa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mea%20culpa. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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