culprit
Americannoun
-
a person or other agent guilty of or responsible for an offense or fault.
-
a person arraigned for an offense.
noun
-
law a person awaiting trial, esp one who has pleaded not guilty
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Westing Game
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Vocabulary: A Rapper's Delight!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
Meanwhile, Sumsub, which sells services to counter fraud, polled 2,000 UK dating app users and found another culprit, with 54% of the poll respondents confessing to using AI to spice up their own online profile.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
One culprit for the shift: a new media diet for fans of more serious nonfiction.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
Cooling towers were also the culprit in a large Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City last year, which was linked to 114 cases, 90 hospitalizations and seven deaths.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Oil wasn’t the only culprit; the other was a big increase in rents and housing prices, the single biggest expense for most people.
From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026
Caesar shook his head when he realized the identity of the culprit.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
