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Glite Dictionary
to recriminate

to recriminate

1 9.6
To accuse someone who blamed you
  • verb
  • /rɪˈkrɪməˌneɪt/
  • Formal
translation icon : recriminación
  • Romney felt very bad about not being able to help every American, but conceded very graciously and without any recriminating remarks.

Examples

  • Some here want to recriminate WHI and WSI for their role in helping launch Obama to the presidency.

    Blog text (2)

  • "I'm not recriminating you.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Elmer did not have a lawyer; he did not recriminate, remonstrate, or defend himself.

    Academic text (1992)

  • We have "witnesses" from both sides, recriminating those killings.

    Blog text (7)

  • Recriminate him.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • All you'll get from me is another couple of months of intermittent sex... and recriminate and ugly little scenes like the one we had last night.

    Network (1976)

  • She rhapsodized, she recriminated, she evoked, and dumped on images of our early marriage.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • DON'T RECRIMINATE YOURSELF, MR. WINTHROP.

    House of Usher (1960)

  • During the heated argument, she chose to recriminate instead of seeking a resolution.

  • He felt it was unfair to recriminate when the focus should be on finding a solution.

Synonyms

to accuse
vsto recriminate
∞ 2.7

Say that someone did something wrong or illegal

is made back at someone in response to an earlier accusation

How Accusatory

to vilify
43 7.9
to denounce
  • Formal
115 6.8
to recriminate
  • Formal
1 9.6
to accuse
∞ 2.7
to allege
  • Literature
497 5.3

Surface Forms

recriminate infinitive
recriminated past
recriminated past participle
recriminating present participle
recriminates third person singular

Morphology

recriminate = criminate (semi-transparent) = re + crimin + ate

The prefix 're-' suggests repetition or reversal, but the specific legal context may not be immediately clear to all learners.

Etymology

The word recriminate breaks into re- meaning 'back' and crimen meaning 'accusation', the same root you see in crime and criminal. So to recriminate is to 'accuse back', to answer someone's blame by blaming them in return.