perpetrators
Those who offend
Perpetrators are people who carry out harmful, illegal, or criminal acts.
The word appears most often in legal and journalistic contexts: Police are searching for the perpetrators of the attack.
Unlike neutral terms like "doer," perpetrator implies wrongdoing—you perpetrate crimes, frauds, and atrocities, not kindnesses.
Serious crime offenders
- convictsImprisoned felons
- offendersThose who commit wrongs
- lawbreakersPeople who violate statutes
- wrongdoersPeople who commit misdeeds
malefactors · miscreants · mobsters · gangsters · racketeers · thieves · burglars · robbers
Those at fault
- guiltyResponsible for wrongdoing
- responsibleObligated to answer for actions
- blameworthyDeserving of censure
- liableLegally responsible for something
answerable · culpable · transgressors · violators · instigators · masterminds · ringleaders · orchestrators
Charged with wrongdoing
- allegedClaimed but unproven
- defendantsThose facing prosecution
- indictedFormally charged legally
- chargedFormally accused of crime
implicated · prosecuted · wanted · apprehended · arrested · detained · identified · unidentified
Judged guilty of crime
- sentencedGiven punishment legally
- punishedPenalized for misbehavior
- incarceratedConfined in prison
- imprisonedHeld in custody
jailed · paroled · rehabilitated · reoffenders · recidivists · repeat · habitual · serial
felons
Serious crime offenders
- convictsImprisoned felons
- offendersThose who commit wrongs
- lawbreakersPeople who violate statutes
wrongdoers · malefactors · miscreants · mobsters · gangsters · racketeers · thieves · burglars · robbers · arsonists
culprits
Those at fault
- guiltyResponsible for wrongdoing
- responsibleObligated to answer for actions
- blameworthyDeserving of censure
liable · answerable · culpable · transgressors · violators · instigators · masterminds · ringleaders · orchestrators · enablers
accused
Charged with wrongdoing
- allegedClaimed but unproven
- defendantsThose facing prosecution
- indictedFormally charged legally
charged · implicated · prosecuted · wanted · apprehended · arrested · detained · identified · unidentified · unknown
convicted
Judged guilty of crime
- sentencedGiven punishment legally
- punishedPenalized for misbehavior
- incarceratedConfined in prison
imprisoned · jailed · paroled · rehabilitated · reoffenders · recidivists · repeat · habitual · serial · prosecution
- RwandaKigali, Hutu, Tutsi, Rwandan Genocide, 1994
- gender equitygender equality, gender equity, equal rights, gender gap, pay equity
- East GermanyStasi, GDR, DDR, Berlin Wall, East Germany
- smugglingcontraband, smugglers, human smuggling, smuggling rings, people smuggling
- violenceviolence, physical attack, brutality, physical violence, aggression
- GenocideHolocaust, Armenian Genocide, Rwandan genocide, Cambodian genocide, extermination
perpetratorsvictims
Those who suffer harm
sufferers · targets · casualties · prey · survivors
perpetratorsprosecutors
Lawyers representing the state
law enforcement · investigators · accusers · plaintiffs · complainants
perpetratorsheroes
Admired courageous figures
rescuers · saviors · protectors · defenders · liberators
- single perpetratorOne person responsible