What does "perpetrator" mean?

One who perpetrates; especially, one who commits an offence or crime.

What is a synonym for "perpetrator"?

Common synonyms include: criminal, actor, agent, architect, arrestee, arrestee.

Pronounced //ˈpɜː(ɹ).pɪˌtɹeɪt.ə(ɹ)//.

//ˈpɜː(ɹ).pɪˌtɹeɪt.ə(ɹ)// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
One who perpetrates; especially, one who commits an offence or crime.
"perpetrator of violence"
2
someone who perpetrates wrongdoing wordnet

"The perpetrator could almost completely remove all traces."

From Latin perpetrātor. By surface analysis, perpetrate + -or.

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