犯人

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 犯人 (はんにん) combines offense 犯 and person 人 to denote the person who committed a crime.
• Basic usage: It is used when police identify the culprit's features or a mystery withholds the culprit's identity.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Culprit versus suspect
  • 犯人 identifies the offender as such; a person who is only under suspicion has not necessarily been established as the culprit.