culprit

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noun cul·prit \ ˈkəl-prət , -ˌprit \

Definition of culprit

1 :one accused of or charged with a crime

The culprit pleaded "not guilty."

2 :one guilty of a crime or a fault

The culprit expressed remorse at his sentencing.

3 :the source or cause of a problem

Lack of exercise and poor diet are the main culprits in heart disease.

See culprit defined for English-language learners

See culprit defined for kids

culprit was our Word of the Day on 09/08/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of culprit in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of culprit from the Web

The latest culprit was again Ian Kennedy, who has now made 17 straight home starts without a win since last August and given up 59 earned runs in 88 innings in that time frame.

— vahe gregorian, kansascity, "Drooping Royals extend slapstick scoreless streak," 28 Aug. 2017
Granted, catching culprits without benefit of police powers makes NCAA enforcement that much more difficult, but immunity should only be used as a last resort and not as a convenient crutch.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Immunity deals complicate NCAA justice | Sullivan," 26 Aug. 2017
The latest culprit is a creature called the Japanese crazy worm (Amynthas agrestis), which multiplies like, er, crazy and damages the soil structure through mass feeding.

— adrian higgins, idahostatesman, "The zoo beneath our feet: We’re only beginning to understand soil’s hidden world," 23 Aug. 2017
This cast does a fine job of keeping the audiences guessing as to the culprit.

— philip potempa, Post-Tribune, "Dunes mystery 'Mousetrap' and Mercury's 'Hair' both timely tickets," 15 Aug. 2017
Social media has already put a call-out to find the men involved in the beating— a photo was taken by Zach D. Roberts that's being used to find the culprits.

— danielle kwateng-clark, Essence.com, "The 20-Year-Old Black Man Beaten By White Supremacists In Charlottesville May Sue City," 14 Aug. 2017
Because most Americans are living significantly longer than their grandparents, researchers have speculated that the greying population could be one culprit.

— mitch leslie, Science | AAAS, "Knee arthritis in Americans has doubled since 1940," 14 Aug. 2017
State enterprises are also a principal culprit in the alarming build-up of corporate debt in China (nearly 170% of GDP at the end of last year).

— The Economist, "Unnatural selectionChina’s state enterprises are not retreating but advancing," 20 July 2017
The real culprit was a malignant tumor in his left kidney that was pressing on nerves from his lower spine.

— paula andalo, Kaiser Health News, "Latinos Left Out Of Clinical Trials … And Possible Cures," 19 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'culprit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

We would be culpable if we didn't clearly explain the origins behind culprit. Yes, it is related to culpable, which itself derives from Latin culpare, meaning "to blame," via Middle English and Anglo-French. But the etymology of culprit is not so straightforward. In Anglo-French, culpable meant "guilty," and this was abbreviated "cul." in legal briefs and texts. Culprit was formed by combining this abbreviation with prest, prit, meaning "ready"-that is, ready to prove an accusation. Literally, then, a culprit was one who was ready to be proven guilty. English then borrowed the word for one accused of a wrongdoing.