Culprit Meaning and Definition
Culprit
Pronunciation
/ˈkʌlprɪt/
Part of Speech
Noun
Definition
A person or thing that is responsible for a problem or harm, often in a way that is not immediately clear or obvious.
Examples
- The detective worked tirelessly to uncover the culprit behind the string of burglaries.
- The company was fined for the environmental damage caused by the deliberate act of the culprit.
Synonyms
- Felon
- Offender
Antonyms
- Victim
- Innocent
Etymology
The word “culprit” comes from the Old French “culpable”, meaning blamable or faulty, from the Latin “culpa”, meaning fault.
Usage Notes
The word “culprit” is often used to refer to a person or thing that is responsible for a problem or harm, but it can also be used more broadly to describe anyone or anything that is regarded as guilty or faulty.
Cultural References
The word “culprit” has been featured in various works of literature, including novels like “The Silence of the Lambs” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. It has also been used in popular TV shows like “Law & Order” and “CSI”.
Idiomatic Expressions or Phrases
The phrase “crack the whip” means to discipline or punish, but it can also refer to the act of catching or discovering the culprit.
Related Words or Phrases
Other related words include “perpetrator”, “wrongdoer”, “villain”, and “transgressor”.
Collocations
The word “culprit” often collocates with words like “crime”, “mischief”, “mystery”, and “scandal”.
Frequency of Use
The word “culprit” is a relatively common word in modern language, with a frequency of around 0.05 per 100 million words in the Oxford English Corpus.
Common Misspellings
Common misspellings of the word “culprit” include “culpret”, “culparit”, and “culpirit”.