culpability
/ˌkʌlpəˈbɪləti/
"culpability" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“culpability” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,797 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #38,797
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The degree of one's blameworthiness in the commission of a crime or offence.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | culpability |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌkʌlpəˈbɪləti/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #38,797 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “culpability” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for culpability is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌkʌlpəˈbɪləti/. Corpus data places it at rank #38,797 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for culpability, with forms such as "cculpability", "clupability", and "culapbility". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "capability", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French culpabilité. The correct English form is culpability, spelled C-U-L-P-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The degree of one's blameworthiness in the commission of a crime or offence.
- 2The amount of liability for a fault or wrongdoing.
Etymology
From Middle French culpabilité.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cculpability,clupability,culapbility,cullpability,culpabbility,culpabiilty,culpabilitty,culpabilityy,culpabiliyt,culpabillity,culpabiltiy,culpabliity,culpaiblity,culpbaility,culppability,cuplability,uclpability
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of culpability - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "culpability"?
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Using “culpability”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-U-L-P-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌkʌlpəˈbɪləti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “capability” - see the side-by-side comparison. culpability vs capability
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.