Translation

• criminal ringleader, main offender (idiom)
• main culprit
• fig. main cause of a disaster

Synonyms

• 主使, 主凶, 主犯, 主谋, 元凶, 正凶, 祸首, 罪魁, 要犯, 首恶, 首犯

Examples

• 该报文章中将被告人描述成一个罪魁祸首，尽管他已经被证明是无辜的了
  The news article painted the defendant as a guilty man, even though he had been proven innocent.