Perjury

//ˈpɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒəɹi// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The deliberate giving of false or misleading testimony under oath. countable, uncountable

    "We declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct."

  2. 2
    criminal offense of making false statements under oath wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
artfulnessbearing false witnesscoloringconfabulationcraftinesscredibility gap

Example

More examples

"If throughout your life you abstain from murder, theft, fornication, perjury, blasphemy, and disrespect toward your parents, your church, and your king, you are conventionally held to deserve moral admiration even if you have never done a single kind or generous or useful action."

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman perjurie, from Latin perjūrāre (“swear falsely”), from per- + jūrāre. Displaced native Old English mānāþ (literally “false oath”).

Related phrases

perjury trapcourt lyingcourtroom lyingfalse evidencelying crimeserious lyingunder oath

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