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

According to The New York Times, Stanfa was convicted of perjury in 1981 and served eight years in prison. —Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025

Blain was charged in San Diego Superior Court with four felony counts of perjury, asking for a bribe by a member of a legislative body, soliciting a bribe and destruction or removal of public records, along with misdemeanor petty theft. —Susan Gill Vardon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Oct. 2025

In 1992, Cecil Jacobson was convicted of 52 counts of fraud and perjury for inseminating his patients with his own sperm and was sent to prison. —Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2025

In January 2017, police arrested Ambrosio-Herrera again on five counts of perjury. —Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025

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