perjure

American  

[pur-jer] / ˈpɜr dʒər /

verb (used with object)

• perjures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• perjured,
  past participle,  past
• perjuring
  present participle

1. to render (oneself ) guilty of swearing falsely or of willfully making a false statement under oath or solemn affirmation.

   The witness perjured herself when she denied knowing the defendant.

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perjure British  

/ ˈpɜːdʒə /

verb

1. (tr) criminal law to render (oneself) guilty of perjury

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• perjurement
  noun
• perjurer
  noun
• unperjuring
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• perjuring
  present
• perjured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• perjure
  simple
• perjures
  simple
• have perjured
  perfect
• has perjured
  perfect
• am perjuring
  progressive
• are perjuring
  progressive
• is perjuring
  progressive
• have been perjuring
  perfect progressive
• has been perjuring
  perfect progressive

Past

• perjured
  simple
• had perjured
  perfect
• was perjuring
  progressive
• were perjuring
  progressive
• had been perjuring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will perjure
  simple
• will have perjured
  perfect
• will be perjuring
  progressive
• will have been perjuring
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of perjure

First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin perjūrāre “to swear falsely,” from per- “through,” i.e., “beyond the limits” ( see per-) + jūrāre “to swear,” literally, “to be at law” (derivative of jūs jus ¹ ( def. ) )

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Explanation

To perjure is to lie after taking an oath in a courtroom to tell the truth. If a witness to a crime deliberately gives false information in front of a judge, they perjure themselves. It's possible to perjure yourself — or commit the crime of perjury — in a written statement or during any other legal transaction that requires you to swear you'll tell the truth. You only perjure yourself, however, if you tell a deliberate lie that affects the outcome of a trial or other legal decision. The Old French source of the word perjure is parjurer, "to break one's word," from the Latin root periurare, "to swear falsely."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

perjure perjures perjured perjuring

Schmitt: I don’t think you know that we have this stuff, so I’ll give you a second to process it so that you don’t perjure yourself.

From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026

“He specifically told me, ‘I don’t want you to perjure yourself, but "I don’t recall" isn’t perjury.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022

Jones on Tuesday called Bellis a tyrant and said she would be forcing him to perjure himself and say “that I’m guilty and to say that I’m a liar.”

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2022

“If the president were to perjure himself, tamper with witness testimony or corruptly destroy evidence, then such actions would violate well-established law,” the memo stated.

From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2022

But whatever be the consequences accept them as a brave girl, and perjure yourself for no man,” advised Farragut.

From A Daughter of the Union by Lucy Foster Madison

He perjures himself in public all the time.

From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2018

Spector’s wife perjures herself to cover for him without knowing the truth.

From Time ● Jan. 26, 2015

But his commander perjures himself, and Carrington's wife, who could save the day, refuses to help.

From Time Magazine Archive

She either perjures herself a second time,—or else the diamonds, in regard to which my client is in jeopardy, were not in the house at all, and could not then have been stolen.

From The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope

But the thief-takers have Claude Duval by the throat at last; and there is a scene in court, where the young lady perjures herself unhesitatingly, and faints once more in the prisoner's arms.

From M. or N. "Similia similibus curantur." by G.J. Whyte-Melville

"You cannot call a person a liar, that's not on, that's implying someone has perjured themselves in court," he said.

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2025

He was still on the witness stand when Forbes, whose reporters had discussed the size disparity with Weisselberg and revealed it publicly in 2017, published an article on its website suggesting he had perjured himself.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2024

Smith in recent weeks sent a target letter to the employee indicating that he may have "perjured himself" during a May appearance before the federal grand jury, the sources told the outlet.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2023

In 2005 things began to unravel when Stepp admitted he had perjured himself in testimony against Dunn.

From Slate ● Apr. 12, 2023

A review of the other factors set out above does not provide conclusive evidence that the witness, Ralph Meyers, perjured himself at the original trial.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Paradis has previously accused Feuer of knowing about wrongdoing in the case and has accused the former city attorney of perjuring himself during a 2019 deposition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023

Dallas police later filed cases with prosecutors accusing Montenegro of tampering with records and perjuring himself in the investigation.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 24, 2023

She also claimed that Passantino was aware of Hutchinson’s knowledge of Ornato’s story — and that when she expressed concerns to him about lying to investigators, Passantino reassured her that she was not perjuring herself.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2022

“The intent to deceive is a lie. And if you lie to the American people in a Senate-confirmed position, you are perjuring yourself and perjury is considered a high crime and misdemeanor,” Mr. Judd said.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 12, 2022

Now I can't put up with that, when I was almost perjuring myself for him at the time.

From Tales and Novels — Volume 08 by Maria Edgeworth

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