mea culpa
/ˌmeɪ.əˈkʊl.pə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.41 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To apologize for something, especially excessively.
Example Sentences
- "For Example, when St. Anthony ſaid his Confiteor, which he did often enough, all the Spectators fell down on their Knees, and gave themſelves ſuch rude Mea Culpa’s as was enough to beat the breath out of their Bodies."
- "Basketball had been replaced by breathless commentators cross-talking and speculating, politicians on split screens eagerly interrupting each other to find scapegoats, and most mute (male) state officials, including Hawaii Gov. David Ige, opening their mouths to sputter (paraphrasing here) — golly gee, we don’t know what happened, but we plan to find out — mea culpas."
- "The president refused to offer any sort of mea culpa on Tuesday, even as the Taliban celebrated their “independence” from America with gunfire in the streets of Kabul."
- "At her trial, lawyers convinced Manning to issue a mea culpa: […]"
- "Tucker Carlson, a conservative podcaster, has said he is “tormented” by his support of Donald Trump, issuing in an extraordinary mea culpa that called for “a moment to wrestle with our own consciences”."
- "When it was over and he grew tired of not being invited to the good parties on the Vineyard, he mea culpa’ed his way back into the good graces of the liberals who’d abandoned old LBJ years earlier."
Etymology
From the Latin phrase meā culpā (“through my fault”), ablative case of mea culpa (“my fault, guilt”), taken from the Confiteor, a traditional penitential prayer in Western Christianity.
Inflected Forms
mea culpas (plural)
mea culpae (plural)
meis culpis (plural)
mea culpa's (present, singular)
mea culpa'ing (participle, present)
mea culpa'ed (participle, past)
mea culpa'ed (past)
Phrases
mea maxima culpa
I stand corrected