Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: CRIME

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Anglo-French
Origin: cul (from culpable 'guilty') + prit 'ready (to prove it)'

culprit

 noun
     
cul‧prit [countable]
1SCC the person who is guilty of a crime or doing something wrong [↪ victim]:
Police finally managed to catch the culprit.
2 informal the reason for a particular problem or difficulty:
High production costs are the main culprit.
Definition of culprit from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic CRIME
Word of the Day
The CRIME
Word of the Day is:
prowler

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