attribute (something) to (someone or something)

idiom

1

: to say that (something) is because of (someone or something)

He attributes his success to his coach.

His doctor attributes his health problems to a poor diet and a lack of exercise.

2

: to think of (something) as being a quality of (someone or something)

The study suggests that it is a mistake to attribute adult reasoning to children.

Is it right to attribute complex emotions to animals?

She attributed some importance to the research.

3

: to think of (something) as being made or created by (someone)

The poem is usually attributed to Shakespeare, but some scholars doubt that he wrote it.

Examples of attribute (something) to (someone or something) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The distinctive attributes our founding documents attribute to human beings — reason, free will, and moral choice — would be inconceivable in the absence of a Judeo-Christian worldview. —Janice Rogers Brown, National Review, 22 June 2024

The Jayden would become the latest of more than a half-dozen major residential and mixed-use projects that developers attribute to CTfastrak, the bus rapid transit system that links New Britain, Newington, West Hartford and Hartford. —Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2024

Driving has gotten more dangerous, but the police are giving out fewer tickets, a decline that some attribute to a law enforcement pullback after the pandemic and widespread protests over George Floyd’s death four years ago. —Kashmir Hill, New York Times, 9 June 2024

Following the October 14 explosion at Gaza’s al Ahli Arab hospital, which Israeli and U.S. officials attribute to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but which many Palestinians blame on Israel, violent demonstrations have broken out in Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Tubas, and other major cities. —Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023