 Thus, "Pharisee" has entered the language as a pejorative for one who does so; the Oxford English Dictionary defines "Pharisee" with one of the meanings as "A person of the spirit or character commonly attributed to the Pharisees in the New Testament; a legalist or formalist".Pharisees are also depicted as being lawless or corrupt (Matthew ); the Greek word used in the verse means lawlessness, and the corresponding Hebrew word means fraud or injustice.However, the Hebrew word "Perushim" from which "Pharisee" is derived, actually means "separatists", referencing their focus on spiritual needs versus worldly pleasures.