guilty implies responsibility for or consciousness of crime, sin, or, at the least, grave error or misdoing.
guilty of a breach of etiquette
culpable is weaker than guilty and is likely to connote malfeasance or errors of ignorance, omission, or negligence.
culpable neglect
Example Sentences
They held her culpable for the accident. He's more culpable than the others because he's old enough to know better.
Recent Examples on the WebKochai’s fiction speaks to the human need to make sense of overwhelming violence—who survives it and who doesn’t; who is held culpable and who isn’t. Omar El Akkad, The Atlantic, 9 Aug. 2022 That alone, however, does not make his parents criminally culpable for his actions. Ray Sanchez, CNN, 12 July 2022 About a month after her death, bridge operator Artissua Lafaye Paulk, 43, was arrested on a charge of manslaughter by culpable negligence. Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 17 Aug. 2022 In June, a Florida mother was arrested and charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence after her 2-year-old son found a firearm and fatally shot his father. Lindsey Bever, Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2022 Their report said state and federal officers on scene were equally culpable for the delay in confronting the shooter. Rosa Flores, CNN, 27 July 2022 Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, provided compelling testimony Tuesday that former president Donald Trump is singularly culpable for the Capitol riot. Andrew C. Mccarthy, National Review, 28 June 2022 In addition to their carbon emissions, pharmaceutical companies are also culpable for their direct emission of pharmaceutical residues into the environment — also unaddressed in the user fee legislation — that can exceed toxic concentrations. David Introcaso, STAT, 13 June 2022 The parties remain split on who is culpable for the recent mass shootings, with a majority of Democrats blaming gun manufacturers, the National Rifle Association and Trump while over half of Republicans blame Congressional Democrats. Amy Nakamura, USA TODAY, 7 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English coupable, from Anglo-French cupable, culpable, from Latin culpabilis, from culpare to blame, from culpa guilt