culprit

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noun cul·prit \ˈkəl-prət, -ˌprit\

: a person who has committed a crime or done something wrong

Full Definition of CULPRIT

1

:  one accused of or charged with a crime

2

:  one guilty of a crime or a fault

3

:  the source or cause of a problem

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Examples of CULPRIT

1. The police eventually located the culprits.
2. <the police caught the culprit a mere two blocks from the scene of the crime>

Origin of CULPRIT

Anglo-French cul. (abbreviation of culpable guilty) + prest, prit ready (i.e., to prove it), from Latin praestus — more at presto

First Known Use: 1678

Related to CULPRIT

Synonyms

crook, criminal, felon, lawbreaker, malefactor, miscreant, offender

Related Words

misdemeanant; accomplice, principal; desperado, outlaw; convict, jailbird; perp, perpetrator; evildoer, gallows bird, misdoer, misfeasor, sinner, transgressor, trespasser, villain, wrongdoer; blackhander, button man, gangster, hoodlum, hooligan, mobster, racketeer, thug; enforcer, gun, gunman, gunsel [slang], hit man, triggerman; backslider, recidivist, relapser, repeater; accused, arrestee, defendant, detainee, fish, suspect

Near Antonyms

gangbuster, lawman

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

Rhymes with CULPRIT

a bit, acquit, admit, armpit, backfit, base hit, befit, bowsprit, bushtit, catch it, cesspit, close-knit, cockpit, commit, cool it, cut it, demit, dimwit, dog it, do it, emit, firelit, fleapit, gaslit, get it, gill slit, godwit, hack it, half-wit, hard-hit, henbit, house-sit, legit, lit crit, make it, mess kit, misfit, mishit, moonlit, mosh pit, nitwit, no-hit, obit, omit, outfit, outwit, owe it, peewit, permit, pinch-hit, Prakrit, press kit, pulpit, refit, remit, rough it, sandpit, Sanskrit, scratch hit, snakebit, snake pit, starlit, stock split, submit, sunlit, switch-hit, tar pit, tidbit, tight-knit, tomtit, to wit, transmit, turnspit, twilit, two-bit, unfit, unknit, warp knit, watch it, weft knit, well-knit