Pronunciation IPA (key): [ˈkʰʌɫprɪt] Audio (US)(file) Noun Singular culprit Plural culprits (countable) A culprit is the person or thing that is responsible for a crime or accident. I have tightened the loose bolt that was the culprit; it should work now. Wikiwand - on Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.Remove ads