Synonyms: exonerate, absolve, acquit, vindicate
Exculpate Sentence: He wonders whether his girlfriend will ever exculpate him for not remembering her birthday.
Under The Lens: Exculpate Etymology
Exculpate is derived from the Latin root culpa which means blame or fault. A more common word from the same root is culpable which means blameworthy. So inculpate means to charge with fault while exculpate means to free from a charge of fault. Another Latin phrase you might have heard of is ‘mea culpa’ which means ‘I am to blame’.