Culprit

//ˈkʌlpɹɪt// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The person or thing at fault for a problem or crime.

    "I have tightened the loose bolt that was the culprit; it should work now."

  2. 2
    someone who perpetrates wrongdoing wordnet
  3. 3
    A prisoner accused but not yet tried. UK

Synonyms

All synonyms
criminalcriminaldelinquentfelonhoodlummalefactor

Antonyms

All antonyms
victim

Example

More examples

"As I read through the letters, I realized that the Pope was the true culprit."

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman cul. prit, contraction of culpable: prest (d'averrer nostre bille) 'guilty: ready (to prove our case)', words used by prosecutor in opening a trial, mistaken in English for an address to the defendant. See culpable. It may have been influenced by Latin culpa (“blame, fault”).

Related phrases

mea culpa

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.