culpability

«culpability» in Mova's school dictionary: being to blame for something wrong or bad — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (culpability — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

(formal, law) Culpability is being to blame for something wrong or bad. tree →

sense in the lessons

A stiff word used in law, news and serious discussions of right and wrong: courts decide a person's culpability; in ethics lessons we ask how much someone is to blame if they did not mean the harm. Phrases: «accept culpability», «deny culpability», «moral culpability».

examples

• The court had to decide the driver's culpability for the crash. tree →
• The company denied any culpability for the oil spill. tree →
• He accepted culpability and apologised. tree →
• Being a child can reduce a person's culpability in law. tree →
• The inquiry looked at the culpability of the officials. tree →
• Culpability is greater when harm is done on purpose. tree →

note

Uncountable. Adjective: culpable (to blame). Everyday words: blame, guilt, fault. Related: culprit.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «culpability» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.