as in accusation
the act of blaming someone for a problem instead of trying to fix or solve it
Engaging in finger-pointing will not help us solve the problem. There was no shortage of finger-pointing among executives after the movie bombed at the box office.
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Recent Examples of finger-pointing
The recurrence of such incidents has led to finger-pointing among local officials and ongoing investigations into jail conditions and protocols.
—
Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
While there’s plenty of finger-pointing to go around, a growing reliance on a handful of major internet infrastructure companies has led to major disruptions, sparking everything from political pressure to computer science memes.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 23 Nov. 2025
The episode also prompted finger-pointing from both sides of the Oversight Committee, a sign of how tensions could further escalate.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 13 Nov. 2025
But the Badgers — after weeks of booing, finger-pointing and doubt — looked alive again.
—Ira Gorawara, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for finger-pointing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finger-pointing
Noun
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Perhaps predictably, the discussions around that case have been rife with accusations of voter fraud.—
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Brody’s early morning post quickly went viral, spurring widespread accusations of insider trading and a growing backlash against unchecked prediction markets by lawmakers.—
Noun
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Israel and Hamas have traded blame over the violations of the deal.—
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On the five-year anniversary this week, the White House launched a web page casting blame on Democrats, then-Vice President Mike Pence, and Capitol Police for the violence that transpired that day.—
Noun
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The shooting inflamed tensions a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, prompting protests and condemnation from state and city officials there.—
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Elon Musk’s xAI has restricted its AI chatbot Grok’s image generation capabilities to paying subscribers only, following widespread condemnation over its use to create non-consensual sexualized images of real women and children.—
Noun
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Advertisement Because women are socialized to be responsible, empathetic, and attuned to others’ needs, deciding to leave can result in feelings of guilt and shame.—
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Depression symptoms include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, guilt or irritability, as well as loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities.—
Noun
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Hegseth’s recent censure of Kelly accuses him of Conduct Unbecoming An Officer and Violating Good Order And Discipline (less serious parts of the UCMJ and more open to interpretation).—
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Hegseth this week backed off that losing proposition and instead issued a censure for Kelly and started a process to demote him in retirement, which would reduce his pension.—
Cite this Entry
“Finger-pointing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finger-pointing. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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