as in libel
law
the crime of telling a lie in a court of law after promising to tell the truth
He was found guilty of perjury.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of perjury
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
See All Example Sentences for perjury
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
See All Example Sentences for perjury
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perjury
Noun
-
In February 2022, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff rejected Palin's claims in a ruling issued while a jury deliberated, saying Palin had failed to show that the Times had acted out of malice, something required in libel lawsuits involving public figures.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
22 Apr. 2025
-
Lipstadt became famous—and was later portrayed onscreen by Rachel Weisz—for winning a judgment in a British court against the Holocaust denier David Irving, who had sued her for libel.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
In some contexts, [Lay] is the past tense of lie, as in recline.—
Sam Corbin,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2025
-
Perhaps that’s what makes my lies defective and disjointed.—
Domenico Starnone,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
In the larger sense, along with truth comes a distortion of it, sometimes innocently and inadvertently but, more often than not, by design and for ulterior purposes.—
Eli Amdur,
Forbes.com,
13 Apr. 2025
-
These distortions reduce a complex conflict to a morality play.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Once a political unknown, Santos gained national notoriety for his fabrications and legal troubles.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Apr. 2025
-
From the bottom to the top, the AI business stack includes companies starting from chip design and fabrication/foundry to data centers, hyperscalers and product companies, each built on top of the other for its survival.—
Sajal Singh,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Perjury.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perjury. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share