Definition

Adjective: Of or relating to the act of imputing; attributing or ascribing something, especially blame, responsibility, or a quality, to someone or something.
Note: "Impultative" is a rare or nonstandard variant of imputative, which is the more common form.

Usage Examples

• (The argument attributed blame entirely.)
• (Her comments ascribed responsibility.)
• (The claim that attributed guilt was dismissed.)

Advanced Usage

• "impultative liability": a legal concept where responsibility is assigned to a party based on their relationship to the wrongdoer.
  • Under the doctrine of impultative liability, the employer was held responsible for the employee’s actions. (Responsibility was imputed to the employer.)

Variants and Related Words

• Imputative (adj): the standard form; meaning the same as "impultative."
  • The judge’s imputative decision assigned blame to the company. (The decision attributed fault.)
• Impute (verb): to attribute or ascribe something, typically something negative.
  • They imputed the error to a lack of training. (They blamed the error on insufficient preparation.)
• Imputation (noun): the act of attributing something, especially blame or guilt.
  • The imputation of theft was based on circumstantial evidence. (The accusation of theft.)

Synonyms

• Attributive: relating to the act of attributing.
• Ascriptive: relating to ascribing a quality or responsibility.
• Accusatory: implying blame or fault.

Related Idioms

• "Lay at someone’s door": to attribute blame or responsibility to someone.
  • The scandal was laid at the director’s door by the media. (The blame was imputed to the director.)