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finger-pointing

finger-pointing

18 4.6
Blaming other people for a problem instead of trying to fix it
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪŋɡərˌpɔɪntɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : acusación
  • During the meeting, there was too much finger-pointing instead of focusing on solutions to our issues.

And it's just this classic, you know, finger pointing in a small town.

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Examples

  • In organizations, schools, and families, blaming and finger-pointing are often symptoms of shame.

    Blog text (13)
  • The Republican Party has been doing a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing since the presidential election.

    Blog text (6)
  • And it's just this classic, you know, finger pointing in a small town.

  • There will be no finger pointing about who missed the ball and getting something done.

  • So basically you have the classic kind of back and forth finger pointing that leads to, guess what, nothing getting done.

  • I think that we could see some serious finger-pointing one way or the other.

    Blog text (13)
  • Many domestic relations lawyers, though, say the finger-pointing needs to back up a few steps.

    Academic text (1998)
  • And then we got into, we got into a bit of finger pointing instead of really owning it and, and as a team really figuring out what was going wrong.

  • And right now there's a lot of finger pointing going on about what caused this bank run on SVB.

  • Litigation and finger-pointing arising from the oil spill have made cooperation even more difficult and information less available.

    Academic text (1993)

Synonyms

blame game
vsfinger-pointing
  • Informal
17 4.8

People or groups say others caused a problem to avoid taking responsibility

is a single public accusatory act rather than ongoing mutual blame
imputation
vsfinger-pointing
3 8.8

An accusation that someone did something wrong

is more about public accusatory blaming rather than formal attribution
buck-passing
vsfinger-pointing
1 7.1

Act of putting blame on others to avoid doing a job you should do

focuses on public blaming instead of solving problems
fingerpointing
vsfinger-pointing
  • Informal
6.1

Telling others they are to blame, often in public

is the same meaning but uses a hyphenated written form

Antonyms

Finding ways to deal with difficult or complex situations

A feeling of blaming yourself for a mistake

How Accusatory

accusation
394 3.1
finger-pointing
  • Informal
18 4.6
criticism
512 3.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

finger-pointing = finger + point (semi-transparent) = finger + point + ing

The components 'finger' and 'point' clearly describe the physical action, but the compound's idiomatic meaning 'blaming' involves a metaphorical shift.

Etymology

Finger-pointing comes from the simple image of someone using a finger to point at another person to 'blame' them. So, Finger-pointing means blaming others for a problem instead of looking for a solution.