10 Words For Someone Who Blames Others For Their Mistakes

Unfortunately, someone who blames others for their mistakes isn’t an alien concept. It’s so common that it might help for you to have a good set of words at the ready to describe these people. This article will help you to come up with a few alternatives.

What Do You Call A Person Who Blames Others For Their Mistakes?

There are a few great choices we can use for this exact problem. Why not check out one of the following:

• Scapegoater
• Psychological projector
• Shame dumper
• Imputer
• Framer
• Slander
• Malicious slander
• Blame-shifter
• Faker
• Insecure

The preferred version is “scapegoater.” It works well to show that someone is looking for a “scapegoat,” which means they are looking for someone to blame for their own mistakes. It’s a great choice if you want to use it for such people.

Scapegoater

A “scapegoater” is someone who looks for a “scapegoat” in someone else. That means they will always try to find someone else to blame for their mistakes. Often, they’ll do this to make sure they don’t take the fall for their own actions.

The definition of “scapegoat,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “a person who is blamed for something that someone else has done.”

Check out these examples to get your head around it:

• You’re a scapegoater, and I know it! I just wish other people would know that too!
• He’s a scapegoater! We can’t trust a word he says about anyone else anymore.
• You don’t have to be a scapegoater. You’d have more friends if you were just honest about your mistakes when you make them!

Psychological Projector

“Psychological projector” means that someone is trying to pass off their problems on someone else. Often, they make this choice unconsciously. It’s a human reaction to try and pin the blame on someone else.

Mentally, some psychological projectors don’t even know they were to blame for the mistake. Since it’s a defense mechanism, it’s more than likely that their brain has tried to help them forget about their errors.

Here are some ways it can work:

• He’s a psychology projector. That’s why I think it’s best if he sees a therapist.
• We need to find out what makes him become a psychological projector like that! We all saw what he did.
• Even after we called her out, she still doesn’t believe she did it! That’s true psychological projection if I ever saw it!

Shame Dumper

“Shame dumper” is a more informal way of showing that someone is “dumping” their problems onto another person. It works well to show that they do not want any of the “shame” that comes with making a mistake, and they’d rather someone else suffers.

Here are a few examples to help you with it:

• You’re just a shame dumper. It’s time that you open up and admit to the things you did. No one is going to blame you.
• They’re trying to get away with shame dumping. You have to make sure you call them out for their actions!
• Stop with all the shame dumping, Geoff. It’s time that you were honest because no one is buying it!

Imputer

“Imputer” works well to show that someone is trying to shift the blame toward someone else. It shows that they know what they did was wrong, but they cannot find it in their hearts to be honest and open about the error in judgment they made.

The definition of “impute,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “to say that someone is responsible for something that has happened, especially something bad, or that something is the cause of something else.”

These examples will help you to make more sense of it:

• I’m not trying to be an imputer, but I certainly can’t take the blame for this one! I’m on my last strike.
• She’s an imputer. Please don’t tell me that you believe any of the lies she’s feeding you right now!
• Stop with all this imputing nonsense! No one is going to believe you, so you might as well admit to your fault!

Framer

A “framer” is someone who will look for ways to blame other people for their problems. Usually, when they “frame” someone, they choose to do so deliberately. This works a little differently from some of the other words on the list.

The definition of “frame,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “to make a person seem to be guilty of a crime when they are not, by producing facts or information that are not true.”

Typically, “framers” look to get other people in trouble. They will often make a mistake specifically to blame someone else for it. If the other person has wronged the “framer” in some way, this might be their way of getting swift revenge.

Here are some examples to help you with it:

• He’s being a framer right now, and you’re all buying it! I swear I’m innocent in this whole mess.
• Stop trying to get me caught out for this! You’re just a framer, and you need to tell them the truth immediately.
• I don’t get why you’re trying to frame her. Now that I’ve caught you, I have to tell the others!

Slander

“Slander” works well to talk about the words someone uses after making a mistake. They will often try to spin a story that works in their favor while also trying to pin the blame for whatever went wrong on somebody else.

The definition of “slander,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “a false spoken statement about someone that damages their reputation, or the making of such a statement.”

Check out these examples if you want to see it work:

• He is feeding you slander. Don’t listen to him because you know that our child didn’t do any of the things they are saying he did.
• Stop with the slander! At this point, nobody around here even wants to listen to you!
• Okay, you caught me! That was nothing but slander. But hey, I had you going for a minute, and you nearly believed me!

Malicious Slanderer

“Malicious slanderer” is the same as above. However, we can use it to show that someone deliberately chooses to “slander” others. The word “malicious” implies that there’s the intent behind their words to try and harm those around them.

Sometimes, malicious slanderers will deliberately cause problems. Rather than accidentally making a mistake and not admitting to it, malicious slanderers will instead choose to make a mistake to frame someone else for the problem.

Here are some examples of how it works:

• I’ve heard about her before. She’s a malicious slanderer, so I wouldn’t listen to a word that comes out of her mouth if you can help it.
• Don’t listen to him! He’s nothing but a malicious slanderer, and I didn’t do the things he’s saying I did.
• He’s trying to ruin my reputation! I swear, if he doesn’t stop with all this malicious slander, he’s going to get in so much trouble one day!

Blame-Shifter

A “blame-shifter” will always try to find a way to blame someone else. They’ll often want to get others to take the fall for them, so they don’t get into too much trouble. It’s a toxic trait to have, but you often can’t avoid them if you know one.

Here are a few ways that you can make this one work:

• As a blame-shifter, my mother will always find ways to pin her alcohol problems on someone else. She needs to accept responsibility.
• Shut up for a second! You’re just a blame-shifter, and everyone already knows that you did it!
• He’s a blame-shifter, so I wouldn’t trust him for a second. He always tries to let other people take the brunt of the accusations before he owns up.

Faker

“Faker” works well to show that people often “fake” information about what really happened with a situation. We can use the word to show that someone has made a mistake, but they’ve created a “fake” scenario where it seems like someone else did it.

Check out some of these examples to see how it works:

• You’re a faker! There’s no way the story you’re spinning is the truth, and we’ll try and get to the bottom of it.
• We can’t believe him because he’s always been a faker. Chances are, he’s the one who caused the issue in the system.
• You’re too much of a faker, and you always lie about who made these mistakes! We don’t believe you anymore!

Insecure

“Insecure” is the last word we want to go through. It’s not the best choice, but it can work well because insecure people often have difficulty accepting their own mistakes. They will instead pin it on someone else, hoping that people won’t think negatively of them.

The definition of “insecure,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “having little confidence and are uncertain about their own abilities or if other people really like them.”

Check out these examples to see it in action:

• I’m too insecure to accept this mistake. I need to find someone else who can take the fall for me.
• He’s far too insecure. Even if he did it, he’d never admit to it now that someone else has taken the blame.
• You shouldn’t be so insecure to admit when you are wrong. It’s not healthy, and you need to change that!

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