culprit or offender?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Which one : “culprit” or “offender” should I use to fill in the setence ? :
“All the classrooms windows were broken, but nobody knew who the ____ was”
And please help me know the difference between them

Thanks for help !

2

perpetrator

culprit
–noun 1. a person or other agent guilty of or responsible for an offense or fault.
2. a person arraigned for an offense.
offender
n. One that offends, especially one that breaks a public law: a corrections institution for youthful offenders.
www.dictionary.com

3

Thanks for your help and your suggestion . It’s very useful for me
So , I can understand that a culprit is a perpetrator who can be intentional or not ; but an offender is always a perpetrator who intentionally breaks the law .
Am I right ?!

4

If you played ball in the house and broke you mom’s favorite dish, you are a culprit.

If you drove your car being intoxicated and got caught by police you are an offender.

5

A culprit is anyone who is culpable for something, and he has usually done it intentionally.

“Offender” is a bureaucratic term used by the police for any kind of criminal.

So if an offender has committed some crime, such as a robbery, he is a culprit. That means that he is responsible for, or culpable for, the robbery.