Is it blame on or blame for?: Usage Guide
Use of blame in sense 2b with on has occasionally been disparaged as wrong. Such disparagement is without basis; blame on occurs as frequently in carefully edited prose as blame for. Both are standard.
R. L. StevensonMuriel RukeyserSynonyms
Examples of blame in a Sentence
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
More recently, Tehran blamed Israel for an April 1 airstrike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals, though Israel hasn’t addressed it.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024
Despite the healthy job market, a near-record-high stock market and a decline in inflation from its peak, many Americans blame Biden for high prices, polls show.
—Colleen Long, Quartz, 12 Apr. 2024
At rally in January, former President Donald J. Trump blamed economic inflation on Mr. Biden’s policies.
—Coral Davenport, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
That is almost double the share who hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible (12%), and significantly higher than the 10% who blame the Israel Defense Forces, as well as the 8% who say Hamas bears ultimate responsibility, per a Newsweek poll.
—Douglas Schoen, Orange County Register, 11 Apr. 2024
The government blamed bad data-recording at the airport Neal cited, London City or LCY.
—Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 11 Apr. 2024
Newsom’s critics blame the governor and Democrats for overspending and causing the deficit.
—Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Biden is calling for Congress to approve $6 billion to keep the program funded through the end of the year, and blaming GOP legislators for its wind-down affecting 23 million Americans.
—Aaron Gettinger, arkansasonline.com, 2 Apr. 2024
Christina Maxouris, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
The ancient Roman Emperor Nero created a conspiracy theory blaming Christians for starting a massive fire that destroyed much of Rome to deflect blame from himself.
—Rafael Perez, Orange County Register, 12 Apr. 2024
Despite pundits who've cast blame, the data does not indicate that migrants brought the measles in from the southern U.S. border.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024
Netanyahu may not bear direct blame for the WCK deaths.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
Who bears the most blame for drying up the Colorado?
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
The company is also facing lawsuits involving its Autopilot software, which question whether the driver is solely responsible when things go wrong in a vehicle guided by Autopilot, or if the software should also bear some of the blame.
—Trisha Thadani, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
Both remain hurt over the blame their team shouldered for decades after the program was shut down.
—Joe Drape, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2024
Rather than reacting impulsively or assigning blame, try to prioritize understanding.
—Ellie Victor, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blame.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blame
Cite this Entry
“Blame.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blame. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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blame
2 of 2 nounVerb
Middle English blamen "to find fault with," from early French blamer, blasmer (same meaning), from Latin blasphemare "to speak ill of," from Greek blasphemein "to blaspheme" — related to blaspheme
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