mea culpa

noun

mea cul·pa ˌmā-ə-ˈku̇l-pə

ˌmā-ä-,

-ˈku̇l-(ˌ)pä

Synonyms of mea culpa next

: a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error

The mayor's public mea culpa didn't satisfy his critics.

Did you know?

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

The mayor's public mea culpa didn't satisfy his critics.

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

The latest: Griswold, a Democrat, issued a mea culpa Monday that took responsibility for the mistake made by a former employee in her office. —

John Frank, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024 After his win the following year, SNL’s November 12 cold open was a mea culpa. —

Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 Aug. 2024 On Tuesday, Holt emailed his mea culpa to Outside and nine other outlets. —

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 See all Example Sentences for mea culpa