perp

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɝp/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)p

Etymology 1

Clipping of perpetrator.

Noun

perp (plural perps)

1. (slang, law enforcement) A perpetrator.

   "We have the perp in custody," the policeman said.

   • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 6:

     Got himself fired for pulling a sword on an acknowledged perp. Slid it right through the fabric of the perp’s shirt, gliding the flat of the blade along the base of his neck, and pinned him to a warped and bubbled expanse of vinyl siding on the wall of the house that the perp was trying to break into.

Derived terms

• perp walk

Translations

perpetrator

Czech: pachatel (cs) m German: Täter (de) m, Täterin (de) f Russian: правонаруши́тель (ru) m (pravonarušítelʹ), злоумы́шленник (ru) m (zloumýšlennik) Ukrainian: винува́тець m (vynuvátecʹ), винува́тиця f (vynuvátycja), зловми́сник m (zlovmýsnyk), зловми́сниця f (zlovmýsnycja), пору́шник m (porúšnyk), пору́шниця f (porúšnycja)

Etymology 2

Adjective

perp

1. (architecture) Clipping of perpendicular.

   a perp window

Etymology 3

Clipping of perpetual futures or perpetual bond.

Noun

perp (plural perps)

1. (finance) A perpetual bond.
2. (finance) Perpetual futures.
   • 2025 December 6, George Steer, Jill R Shah, Nikou Asgari, “Crypto's rocky year”, in FT Weekend, Big Read, page 6:

     Autopsies carried out since then [Oct 2025 crypto crash] suggest that much of the damage can be traced to investors having piled into financial products known as perpetual futures. So-called perps allow traders to make highly leveraged bets, up to 100-to-1 on some crypto exchanges, to boost their returns on market moves.

Further reading

• “perp n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Anagrams

• PrEP, Repp, prep, prep., repp

French

Etymology

Clipping of perpétuité.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ/

Noun

perp f (plural perps)

1. (colloquial) perpetuity