perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpər-jə-rē 

ˈpərj-rē

: the voluntary violation of an oath or vow either by swearing to what is untrue or by omission to do what has been promised under oath : false swearing

Did you know?

The prefix per- in Latin often meant "harmfully". So witnesses who perjure themselves do harm to the truth by knowingly telling a lie. Not all lying is perjury, only lying under oath; so perjury generally takes place either in court or before a legislative body such as Congress. To avoid committing perjury, a witness or defendant may "take the Fifth": that is, refuse to answer a question because the answer might be an admission of guilt, and the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution forbids forcing a citizen to admit to being guilty of a crime.

Examples of perjury in a Sentence

He was found guilty of perjury.

Recent Examples on the Web

He was found guilty in December of violating his duty as a government official by leaking a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report and perjury for lying about it under oath to a grand jury investigating the source of the leak. —Grace Hase, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2025

Madoff was a financier who pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges related to fraud, money laundering, making false statements and perjury in 2009. —Tommy McArdle, People.com, 4 Apr. 2025

Jon Burge, who was convicted in federal court of perjury and obstruction of justice. —Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2025

The rules weren’t impossible to circumvent, but doing so took time, money, and perhaps mild perjury. —Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for perjury

• surgery
• cryosurgery
• microsurgery
• neurosurgery
• psychosurgery
• radiosurgery

Kids Definition

perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpərj-(ə-)rē 

plural perjuries

: the act or crime of swearing to what one knows is untrue

Legal Definition

perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpər-jə-rē 

plural perjuries

: the act or crime of knowingly making a false statement (as about a material matter) while under oath or bound by an affirmation or other officially prescribed declaration that what one says, writes, or claims is true compare false swearing

Etymology

Anglo-French perjurie, parjurie, from Latin perjurium, from perjurus deliberately giving false testimony, from per- detrimental to + jur-, jus law