culprits

NOUN

person responsible for wrongdoing

Synonyms

STRONGEST

criminal felon fugitive miscreant offender wrongdoer

STRONG

con convict delinquent evildoer jailbird malefactor rascal sinner transgressor yardbird

WEAK

ex-con guilty party

Antonyms

STRONGEST

police

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Nigeria is currently grappling with a spate of mass abductions by a range of culprits.

From BBC • May 16, 2026

"There are only so many possible culprits, so I started to compare things that might be important," Hogan said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

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 • Mar. 24, 2026

One could run down the list of culprits and struggle to find a single bright spot.

From Barron's • Feb. 3, 2026

The prosecutor argued that the probability was so low that such a couple existed that the police investigation must have turned up the actual culprits.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos