Have a look at these words........culpable, exculpate,
inculpate.
Do you know what they mean? If
not... Don't blame your college English lecturer. He is not the culprit.
Woh... Please don't
rush. Just go back to the word "culprit". What does it
mean? A culprit is a person who bears the blame. So the word "culprit" has
something to do with blame. In fact the root culp means
blame.
Now revisit the three words
again.
1) culpable
: Blamable, deserving blame
usage: In this affair, Salman
is more culpable than Aishwarya.
2) exculpate
: To free from blame. ( the prefix ex- (away
from, out ) is one of the most prevalent of all
prefixes, please don't forget it)
usage:
The court is yet to exculpate Salman from the car accident
case.
3) inculpate
: To charge with blame. ( the prefix in- (
into ) is very common)
usage: Salman was
inculpated in more than one cases.