culprit

American  

[kuhl-prit] / ˈkʌl prɪt /

noun

1. a person or other agent guilty of or responsible for an offense or fault.

2. a person arraigned for an offense.

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culprit British  

/ ˈkʌlprɪt /

noun

1. law a person awaiting trial, esp one who has pleaded not guilty

2. the person responsible for a particular offence, misdeed, etc

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Etymology

Origin of culprit

1670–80; traditionally explained as cul (representing Latin culpābilis guilty) + prit (representing Anglo-French prest ready), marking the prosecution as ready to prove the defendant's guilt. See culpable, presto

Example Sentences

Technology has been the alleged culprit behind everything from spiraling anxiety to vanishing attention spans to social isolation.

From The Wall Street Journal

He found that all three of the major culprits are present in 2026 — so investors are right to be worried about the market right now.

From MarketWatch

According to analysts interviewed for this column, the primary culprit is the game that companies and analysts play to keep expectations low before earnings reports.

From Barron's

The culprit, according to Blake LeBaron, an economics professor at Brandeis University, was that investors became able to follow the strategy cheaply and easily .

From MarketWatch

Last year Utah’s insurance commissioner flagged such holdings as a key culprit in the financial problems of a troubled private-equity owned insurer there.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• criminal
• felon
• fugitive
• miscreant
• offender
• wrongdoer