perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpər-jə-rē 

ˈpərj-rē

: the voluntary violation of an oath or vow either by swearing to what is untrue or by omission to do what has been promised under oath : false swearing

Did you know?

The prefix per- in Latin often meant "harmfully". So witnesses who perjure themselves do harm to the truth by knowingly telling a lie. Not all lying is perjury, only lying under oath; so perjury generally takes place either in court or before a legislative body such as Congress. To avoid committing perjury, a witness or defendant may "take the Fifth": that is, refuse to answer a question because the answer might be an admission of guilt, and the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution forbids forcing a citizen to admit to being guilty of a crime.

Examples of perjury in a Sentence

He was found guilty of perjury.

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet Paul's grounds for holding Fauci in contempt ignore that any statements Fauci made July 29 could have exposed him to accusations of perjury or other offenses outside the time period of Biden's pardon. — Joey Garrison, USA Today, 30 July 2026

Crawley was charged with second-degree hindering prosecution, offering a false instrument for filing and perjury. — Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026

While Clinton was impeached by the house, he was acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice charges. — Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 28 July 2026

He was arrested in May 2021, and a federal jury convicted him in 2023 of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, perjury and obstruction of justice. — Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 25 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for perjury

• surgery
• cryosurgery
• microsurgery
• neurosurgery
• psychosurgery
• radiosurgery

Kids Definition

perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpərj-(ə-)rē 

plural perjuries

: the act or crime of swearing to what one knows is untrue

Legal Definition

perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpər-jə-rē 

plural perjuries

: the act or crime of knowingly making a false statement (as about a material matter) while under oath or bound by an affirmation or other officially prescribed declaration that what one says, writes, or claims is true compare false swearing

Etymology

Anglo-French perjurie, parjurie, from Latin perjurium, from perjurus deliberately giving false testimony, from per- detrimental to + jur-, jus law