perpetrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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perpetrates,
present (3rd person singular)
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perpetrated,
past participle, past
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perpetrating
present participle
-
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
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perpetratesimple
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perpetratessimple
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have perpetratedperfect
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has perpetratedperfect
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am perpetratingprogressive
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are perpetratingprogressive
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is perpetratingprogressive
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have been perpetratingperfect progressive
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has been perpetratingperfect progressive
Past
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perpetratedsimple
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had perpetratedperfect
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was perpetratingprogressive
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were perpetratingprogressive
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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:
Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer described the new rules as “modest measures that will help prevent and restrain potential gross abuses of the mails to perpetrate a fraud on the Nation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Amodei’s main concern, he wrote in the letter, was the risk of authoritarian governments catching up with the U.S. in AI “to achieve permanent military superiority or perpetrate incredibly deep repression of their own people.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
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 sportsbooks themselves are victims in this case. They themselves did not perpetrate anything unlawful,” said Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2025
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
While our counterattacks are reducing the number of casualties she perpetrates – malaria deaths in particular are declining rapidly – the mosquito remains the deadliest hunter of human beings on the planet.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2019
“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
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
Instead, Campbell had been the victim of deception perpetrated by her co-trustee, Bianka Hellmich, who was disqualified from being a charity trustee for nine years.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Galeano — who previously worked as a correspondent for the Associated Press in Nicaragua — believed he had a responsibility to call out what he saw as injustices perpetrated by the government.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Women's Aid says there are many misconceptions about domestic abuse, external, including that it is only perpetrated by "bad people" rather than being a reflection of sexism in wider society.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 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
From the United States: “The entire world sat back aghast. Nothing like the theft of the Mona Lisa had ever been perpetrated before in the world’s history.”
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
In those early days of television, it became the biggest show in the country, and certain people hovering around those who were perpetrating these witch hunts had a lingering, profound effect on the nation’s future.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
The state Attorney General’s office in Florida, where RAD is based, is separately investigating the firm for perpetrating what it described as an apparent “Ponzi scheme,” citing complaints from investors.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
“Liu used Theta Labs as his personal trading vehicle, perpetrating fraud, self-dealing, and market manipulation,” said Mark Mermelstein, Kowal’s attorney, in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2025
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
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.
