culpability
/ˌkʌlpəˈbɪləti/noun
culpability is spelled C-U-L-P-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y: 11 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, culpability means “The degree of one's blameworthiness in the commission of a crime or offence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of culpability is culpabilities.
How many letters and syllables are in culpability?
| Letters | 11: C-U-L-P-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,863rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is culpability?
Culpability appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce culpability?
- /ˌkʌlpəˈbɪləti/
Culpability has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-culpability.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of culpability
- culpabilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does culpability mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The degree of one's blameworthiness in the commission of a crime or offence.
criminal culpability
- 2
The amount of liability for a fault or wrongdoing.
degree of culpability
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Culpability in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense blameworthiness:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Schuldhaftigkeit, Strafbarkeit |
| Portuguese | culpabilidade |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does culpability come from?
From Middle French culpabilité.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).