perpetrate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to commit.
to perpetrate a crime.
-
to present, execute, or do in a poor or tasteless manner.
Who perpetrated this so-called comedy?
verb
Usage
Perpetrate and perpetuate are sometimes confused: he must answer for the crimes he has perpetrated (not perpetuated ); the book helped to perpetuate (not perpetrate ) some of the myths surrounding his early life
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
perpetratesimple
-
perpetratessimple
-
have perpetratedperfect
-
has perpetratedperfect
-
am perpetratingprogressive
-
are perpetratingprogressive
-
is perpetratingprogressive
-
have been perpetratingperfect progressive
-
has been perpetratingperfect progressive
Past
-
perpetratedsimple
-
had perpetratedperfect
-
was perpetratingprogressive
-
were perpetratingprogressive
-
had been perpetratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of perpetrate
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin perpetrātus (past participle of perpetrāre “to carry out, execute, perform”), equivalent to per- per- + -petr- (combining form of patrāre “to father, bring abou”t; see pater) + -ā- thematic vowel + -tus past participle suffix; see -ate 1
Explanation
It's possible to perpetrate a good deed, but not likely. That's because perpetrate means to commit or be responsible for something — usually something mischievous or bad. If you manage to slip a whoopee cushion onto your teacher's chair without her seeing it, then you've perpetrated a classic prank. But if you were to use your wily ways to break into the bank's safe, then you would have just turned yourself into "a felony-class perpetrator." Do yourself a favor and stay out of trouble!
Vocabulary lists containing perpetrate
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Persepolis
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Not Your Father's Word List: Pater, Patr
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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.
See Examples For:
On Friday, media regulator Roskomnadzor announced it was considering fully banning WhatsApp, accusing it of being a vessel to perpetrate "crime".
From Barron's ● Nov. 29, 2025
“The powers of government must never again perpetrate an injustice against any group based solely on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2025
‘The sportsbooks themselves are victims in this case. They themselves did not perpetrate anything unlawful.’
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2025
He added that the sentencing showed the force "will relentlessly pursue those who perpetrate violence against women and girls and bring them to justice".
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2024
What was interesting about this little insight was that I could see the army had a point, but it still seemed like a sneaky trick to perpetrate on all those simple country folk.
From "How I Live Now" by Meg Rosoff
“When someone perpetrates wrongdoing, it is the fault of that person or those persons who did that,” she said.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 25, 2020
“I find myself in the position of a well-intentioned man. It’s difficult. And it’s always difficult if you’re not part of the community, but part of the community that perpetrates the actual action.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 3, 2017
Indeed, it is a modern trope: the loving family man who perpetrates acts of cruelty because he is just following orders.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 16, 2017
But it perpetrates a gross falsification of history.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 31, 2011
So far as my own people are concerned, I don't take this to heart,—because my countryman very likely perpetrates three barbarisms in correcting my one.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 75, January, 1864 by Various
Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which had a representative in court, wrote on social media that the trial "revives hope that justice will finally be served for a crime perpetrated nearly nine years ago".
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
The article leaves room for debate about whether Platner actually perpetrated the worst offenses, which he denies, and whether those offenses should be disqualifying for a Senate candidate.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
He slowly became obsessed with the idea that high fees were a moral wrong perpetrated on American investors by an ethically bankrupt Wall Street fund-management industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
"We were there very quickly after the deed had been perpetrated," Robertson says.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
The dirtiest of all tricks for passive carriage is perpetrated by microbes that pass from a woman to her fetus and thereby infect babies already at birth.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The Attorney General’s office in Florida, where RAD is based, have said the firm was perpetrating an apparent “Ponzi scheme,” citing complaints from investors.
From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 2026
Susan said society needs to "fundamentally change for people like him to stop perpetrating this on innocent people".
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
While Marissa and Peter pivot between rage and not-quite-mourning, and other characters are perpetrating cooked-up complications to the story, Alcaras conducts an investigation that is so commonsensical it defies the rules of crime fiction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
Dating back to the second wave of Jim Crow-style racism in the early 1950s, Black celebrities have been critical in efforts to bring awareness to racial injustice and accountability to those perpetrating it.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2025
These detectives admitted to hiding in closets and under beds, posing as ANC members, perpetrating virtually any deception that would enable them to get information about our organization.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
