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# culprit

noun (a culprit, culprits)

«culprit» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A culprit is the person who has done something wrong or committed a crime. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#m1)
2. A culprit is the cause of a problem. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#m2)

### In the lessons

In detective stories and at school («Who broke the window? Find the culprit!»). In science and health, «the culprit» is the cause: «sugar is the culprit for tooth decay». Phrases: «the real culprit», «the main culprit», «the guilty culprit».

### Examples

- The teacher found the culprit who drew on the wall. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#x1)
- The detective finally named the culprit. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#x2)
- The dog was the culprit — there were crumbs on its nose! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#x3)
- Too much sugar is the main culprit in tooth decay. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#x4)
- The culprit for the flood was a blocked drain. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#x5)
- The police are still looking for the culprits. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#x6)
- Here was the culprit who had brought misfortune on all of them! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/#x7)

### Note

Countable. Pronounced «KUL-prit». «Guilty culprit» repeats the idea; «culprit» already means the guilty one. Do not call someone a culprit before you know they did it.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «culprit» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/culprit/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«culprit» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/culprit.html) on Mova free.