culprit
Americannoun
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a person or other agent guilty of or responsible for an offense or fault.
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a person arraigned for an offense.
noun
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law a person awaiting trial, esp one who has pleaded not guilty
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the person responsible for a particular offence, misdeed, etc
Etymology
Origin of culprit
1670–80; traditionally explained as cul (representing Latin culpābilis guilty) + prit (representing Anglo-French prest ready), marking the prosecution as ready to prove the defendant's guilt. See culpable, presto
Explanation
A culprit is a person who does something wrong, like committing a crime. When your wallet got stolen out of your pocket, there was a culprit to blame in the crowd. The word culprit comes from the Anglo French words cul prit, a contraction of culpable, which means "deserving blame." A culprit isn't always a person; it can be anything that caused something bad to happen — even a sock left on the steps can be a culprit if it makes you slip and fall. Don't confuse culprit with scapegoat, which is a person or thing that gets blamed for something it didn't do.
Vocabulary lists containing culprit
Language Gone Wrong: Words That Started Out as Errors
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The Westing Game
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Vocabulary: A Rapper's Delight!
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Before Mr. Baker released his second album, “General Admission,” in 2015, he made his acting debut in “Beyond the Lights,” playing a rapper named Kid Culprit who humiliates his pop star girlfriend.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2020
Cyber Attack Takes Down Computers in South Korea, Motives and Culprit Unclear Larry is the associate editor of technology for , covering a variety of tech-related topics, including biotech, computers, military tech, nanotech and robots.
From Scientific American • Mar. 21, 2013
Culprit or scapegoat Did a former finance minister tamper with evidence to protect his family?
From Economist • Jan. 3, 2013
With the President's permission and assistance, Culprits Pedraza, Garcia and other rebels with their families took a specially chartered Pan American Airways plane to Miami, where they were joined two days later by Culprit Gonzalez.
From Time Magazine Archive
Drake wrote a fine romantic poem called The Culprit Fay.
From History of American Literature by Halleck, Reuben Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
