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
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.
She says the real culprit is a "systemic underfunding" of the system.
From BBC
If neither lion appears to be the culprit, the search will resume for a possible attacker.
From BBC
Radio 4 has promised Thursday evening's episode will delve deeper into the mystery, with the search for the culprit now under way.
From BBC
According to Rexing, a culprit ever so slightly altered the email domain name of a real trucking company.
Early data on the effects of school phone bans confirm what teachers and administrators have long suspected—that phones in the classroom were the primary culprit behind bad behavior and low engagement.
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.
