culprit
noun /ˈkʌlprɪt/
/ˈkʌlprɪt/
- a person who has done something wrong or against the law
- The police quickly identified the real culprits.
- Police hunting the culprits have condemned the attack.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- chief
- main
- …
- hunt
- hunt for
- apprehend
- …
- a person or thing responsible for causing a problem
- The main culprit in the current crisis seems to be modern farming techniques.
- Keep the kitchen clear of all sources of bacteria, not forgetting the biggest culprit of all—the dishcloth.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- chief
- main
- …
- hunt
- hunt for
- apprehend
- …
Word Originlate 17th cent. (originally in the formula Culprit, how will you be tried?, said by the Clerk of the Crown to a prisoner pleading not guilty): perhaps from a misinterpretation of the written abbreviation cul. prist for Anglo-Norman French Culpable: prest d'averrer notre bille ‘(You are) guilty: (We are) ready to prove our indictment’; in later use influenced by Latin culpa ‘fault, blame’.