perpetrate
verb
per·pe·trate
ˈpər-pə-ˌtrāt 
perpetrated; perpetrating
1
: to bring about or carry out (something, such as a crime or deception) : commit
2
: to produce, perform, or execute (something likened to a crime)
perpetrate a pun
Synonyms of perpetrate
Examples of perpetrate in a Sentence
The men were planning to perpetrate a robbery.
The attack was perpetrated by a street gang.
He vowed revenge for the crime perpetrated on his family.
Recent Examples on the Web
The marauders who perpetrated the post-2003 sectarian violence weren’t.
—
Nabil Salih, Time, 4 Dec. 2025
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a billion-dollar internet piracy case that could decide if internet service providers (ISPs) are liable for the digital theft perpetrated by their customers who simply refuse to pay for that new Sabrina Carpenter track.
—Dave Lozo, Fortune, 2 Dec. 2025
Yet more than one-third of homicides of women are still perpetrated by intimate partners.
—Kaitlyn M. Sims, The Conversation, 2 Dec. 2025
In the nineteen-twenties, the problem of anarchist violence could be understood as belonging to a different category than the partisan arguments between Democrats and Republicans—as could later acts of terror perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan and the Weather Underground.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for perpetrate
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Nabil Salih, Time, 4 Dec. 2025
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a billion-dollar internet piracy case that could decide if internet service providers (ISPs) are liable for the digital theft perpetrated by their customers who simply refuse to pay for that new Sabrina Carpenter track.
—Dave Lozo, Fortune, 2 Dec. 2025
Yet more than one-third of homicides of women are still perpetrated by intimate partners.
—Kaitlyn M. Sims, The Conversation, 2 Dec. 2025
In the nineteen-twenties, the problem of anarchist violence could be understood as belonging to a different category than the partisan arguments between Democrats and Republicans—as could later acts of terror perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan and the Weather Underground.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for perpetrate
Cite this Entry
“Perpetrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perpetrate. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
perpetrate
verb
per·pe·trate
ˈpər-pə-ˌtrāt
perpetrated; perpetrating
: to be guilty of doing : commit
Legal Definition
perpetrate
transitive verb
per·pe·trate
ˈpər-pə-ˌtrāt
perpetrated; perpetrating
: to carry out or bring about (as a crime)
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