culpable

English

Etymology

From Middle English culpable, from Old French culpable, from Latin culpābilis (“blameworthy”), from culpō (“to blame, condemn”), from culpa (“a fault, crime, mistake”). Compare also culprit.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌlpəbəl/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɐlpəbəl/

Adjective

culpable (comparative more culpable, superlative most culpable)

1. Meriting condemnation, censure or blame, especially as something wrong, harmful or injurious; blameworthy, guilty.

   Synonyms: at fault, to blame; see also Thesaurus:guilty

   I am culpable for stealing your money.

Derived terms

• culpability
• culpable homicide
• culpable negligence
• culpableness
• culpably
• inculpable
• nonculpable
• unculpable

Related terms

• culpate
• culprit
• disculp
• disculpate
• exculpate
• inculpate
• mea culpa

Translations

blameworthy

Bulgarian: виновен (bg) (vinoven) Catalan: culpable (ca) Dutch: verwijtbaar (nl), schuldig (nl) Esperanto: kulpa Finnish: syyllinen (fi), moitittava (fi) French: coupable (fr) German: verdammenswert (de), schuldig (de), strafbar (de), verdammungswürdig (de) Latin: culpandus Persian: مقصر (fa) (moqasser) Portuguese: culpável (pt) Romanian: culpabil (ro) Russian: вино́вный (ru) (vinóvnyj), винова́тый (ru) (vinovátyj) Spanish: culpable (es) Turkish: kabahatli (tr), kusurlu (tr), suçlu (tr)

Further reading

• “culpable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “culpable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin culpābilis, equivalent to culpar +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kulˈpab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kulˈpa.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

culpable m or f (masculine and feminine plural culpables)

1. guilty; culpable

Related terms

• culpa
• culpar

Further reading

• “culpable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “culpable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “culpable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “culpable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin culpābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kulˈpable/ [kulˈpa.β̞le]

• Audio (Bolivia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: cul‧pa‧ble

Adjective

culpable m or f (masculine and feminine plural culpables)

1. guilty, culpable

   hacerle sentir culpable ― to guilt trip

2. guilty (having a sense of guilt)

   una conciencia culpable ― a guilty conscience

Noun

culpable m or f by sense (plural culpables)

1. culpable person

Related terms

• culpa
• culpar

Further reading

• “culpable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025