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

She said the letters were part of a plan by Ms. Toebbe to pressure her husband to perjure himself by falsely saying she knew nothing about the plot.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 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

Gleeson argued that Flynn did perjure himself, but that this should factor into his sentencing and not be the basis for an additional charge.

From Fox News ● Jun. 10, 2020

On discovering, too, that Jack Ingham was a Pinkerton detective, instead of Mrs. Sanford's best friend, they saw other reasons why it would not be advisable to cause Mr. William Simpson to perjure himself again.

From Mississippi Outlaws and the Detectives Don Pedro and the Detectives; Poisoner and the Detectives by Allan Pinkerton

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

The man who perjures himself to escape his taxes has no right to expect that his fellow citizens are going to place a higher value upon an oath than he.

From Courts and Criminals by Arthur Cheney Train

She is a marvel of discretion, and the way in which she perjures her soul for the sake of the practice is a constant weight upon my conscience.

From The Stark Munro Letters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"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

Colombo appealed the convictions, contending that the case should be dismissed because Michael English, the property manager of the apartment complex where Morris Jr. resided, gave perjured testimony before the grand jury.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025

Blanche requested that the verdict be thrown out based on the jury’s reliance on the testimony of Michael Cohen, who Blanche claimed perjured himself on the stand, and the request was quickly denied.

From Slate ● May 30, 2024

“The fact that a defendant who lacks credibility and has already been to prison for falsifying business documents may have also perjured himself in this proceeding or the preceding investigation is hardly surprising,” Wallace wrote.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2024

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

She noted Ms Ventura's lawsuit settlement, asking, "why risk it all by perjuring herself at a federal trial?"

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025

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

It would be wronging him and perjuring myself.

From Without a Home by Edward Payson Roe

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