Synonyms of culpable

culpable

adjective

ˈkəl-pə-bəl 

as in guilty

deserving reproach or blame

are you any less culpable for murder if you acted in the heat of passion?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• guilty
• blameworthy
• punishable
• reckless
• reprehensible
• blamable
• bad
• censurable
• at fault
• criminal
• reproachable
• improper
• foolish
• wrongful
• sinful
• irresponsible
• illegal
• wicked
• unlawful
• indictable
• illicit
• chargeable
• impeachable
• illegitimate
• disciplinable
• amerciable

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• blameless
• perfect
• faultless
• impeccable
• pure
• flawless
• irreproachable
• innocent
• guiltless

Synonym Chooser

How is the word culpable different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of culpable are blamable, blameworthy, and guilty. While all these words mean "deserving reproach or punishment," culpable is weaker than guilty and is likely to connote malfeasance or errors of ignorance, omission, or negligence.

culpable neglect

How are the words blameworthy and blamable related as synonyms of culpable?

Both blameworthy and blamable apply to any degree of reprehensibility.

conduct adjudged blameworthy

an accident for which no one is blamable

When could guilty be used to replace culpable?

While in some cases nearly identical to culpable, guilty implies responsibility for or consciousness of crime, sin, or, at the least, grave error or misdoing.

guilty of a breach of etiquette

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of culpable

Trump and other Republicans have variously held Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) culpable on this point. —Niall Stanage, The Hill, 9 Jan. 2025

And the California Democrat also helped lead the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which found Trump singularly culpable for inciting the violence that day. —Mike Lillis, The Hill, 24 Jan. 2025

After a more than monthlong trial in the state bar court, in a March 27, 2024, ruling Bar Judge Yvette Roland found Eastman culpable on 10 of the 11 state bar charges and recommended his disbarment. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2025

Fauci, who was the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pushed back on claims that the National Institutes of Health was culpable for research at the Wuhan lab in China. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 20 Jan. 2025