caught red-handed

ADJECTIVE

culpable

Synonyms

STRONGEST

guilty impeachable liable reprehensible responsible

WEAK

amiss answerable at fault blamable blameful blameworthy caught caught in the act censurable demeritorious dirty found wanting hung up in the wrong indictable off base out of line punishable sinful smoking gun to blame unholy wrong

Antonyms

STRONGEST

immune irresponsible

WEAK

blameless inculpable innocent not guilty right

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

caught red-handed

Mark Joseph Stern: Well, the Justice Department already got caught red-handed lying in this case once before.

From Slate ● Nov. 15, 2025

“Even when he is literally caught red-handed, he won’t want to admit it.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

"They have been caught red-handed in a cover-up," Mr Ross told MSPs.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2023

The Kremlin said he was caught "red-handed" but has provided no detail to support the assertion.

From Reuters ● Aug. 24, 2023

They went back to repair it and were caught red-handed.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge