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CRIMINAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
Synonyms:
criminal; crook; felon; malefactor; outlaw
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("criminal" is a kind of...):
principal ((criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "criminal"):
law offender; lawbreaker; violator (someone who violates the law)
traitor; treasonist (someone who betrays his country by committing treason)
stealer; thief (a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it)
contrabandist; moon-curser; moon curser; runner; smuggler (someone who imports or exports without paying duties)
scofflaw (one who habitually ignores the law and does not answer court summonses)
habitual criminal; recidivist; repeater (someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior))
raper; rapist (someone who forces another to have sexual intercourse)
racketeer (someone who commits crimes for profit (especially one who obtains money by fraud or extortion))
drug dealer; drug peddler; drug trafficker; peddler; pusher (an unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs)
parolee; probationer (someone released on probation or on parole)
liquidator; manslayer; murderer (a criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being))
gangster's moll; gun moll; moll (the girlfriend of a gangster)
mafioso (a member of the Mafia crime syndicate in the United States)
accessary; accessory (someone who helps another person commit a crime)
arsonist; firebug; incendiary (a criminal who illegally sets fire to property)
blackmailer; extortioner; extortionist (a criminal who extorts money from someone by threatening to expose embarrassing information about them)
bootlegger; moonshiner (someone who makes or sells illegal liquor)
briber; suborner (someone who pays (or otherwise incites) you to commit a wrongful act)
coconspirator; conspirator; machinator; plotter (a member of a conspiracy)
desperado; desperate criminal (a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier))
fugitive; fugitive from justice (someone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justice)
gangster; mobster (a criminal who is a member of gang)
highbinder (a corrupt politician)
highjacker; hijacker (someone who uses force to take over a vehicle (especially an airplane) in order to reach an alternative destination)
goon; hood; hoodlum; punk; strong-armer; thug; tough; toughie (an aggressive and violent young criminal)
gaolbird; jail bird; jailbird (a criminal who has been jailed repeatedly)
abductor; kidnaper; kidnapper; snatcher (someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom))
Instance hyponyms:
Billie the Kid; Bonney; William H. Bonney (United States outlaw who was said to have killed 21 men (1859-1881))
James; Jesse James (United States outlaw who fought as a Confederate soldier and later led a band of outlaws that robbed trains and banks in the West until he was murdered by a member of his own gang (1847-1882))
MacGregor; Rob Roy; Robert MacGregor (Scottish clan leader and outlaw who was the subject of a 1817 novel by Sir Walter Scott (1671-1734))
Derivation:
criminalize (treat as a criminal)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Guilty of crime or serious offense
Example:
criminal in the sight of God and man
Classified under:
Similar:
guilty (responsible for or chargeable with a reprehensible act)
Derivation:
criminality; criminalness (the state of being a criminal)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Involving or being or having the nature of a crime
Example:
felonious intent
Synonyms:
criminal; felonious
Classified under:
Similar:
illegal (prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules)
Derivation:
crime ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)
crime (an evil act not necessarily punishable by law)
criminalness (the state of being a criminal)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
Example:
adultery is as reprehensible for a husband as for a wife
Synonyms:
condemnable; criminal; deplorable; reprehensible; vicious
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
wrong (contrary to conscience or morality or law)
Context examples:
Her folly, which now seemed even criminal, was all exposed to him, and he must despise her forever.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Well now, Jane, you know, or at least I will tell you, that when a criminal is accused, he is always allowed to speak in his own defence.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
It's a perfect storm of extraordinary factors coming together: fire, ice and criminal negligence (...) The fire was known about, but it was played down.
(UK documentary claims fire weakened RMS Titanic, Wikinews)
As to the decision of civil causes, or proceedings against criminals, their precedents are so few, that they have little reason to boast of any extraordinary skill in either.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
A very pretty conspiracy this, he cried, with a criminal, an actress, and a prize-fighter all playing their parts.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Yes, sir, was Fanny's humble answer, given with the feelings almost of a criminal towards Mrs. Norris; and not bearing to remain with her in what might seem a state of triumph, she followed her uncle out of the room, having staid behind him only long enough to hear these words spoken in angry agitation—Quite unnecessary! a great deal too kind!
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
That is what she would have done if she had wished to shield the criminal.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow,” said he in the querulous voice of the sportsman whose game has failed him.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“It is my duty to warn you that it will be used against you,” cried the inspector, with the magnificent fair play of the British criminal law.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
My father was enraptured on finding me freed from the vexations of a criminal charge, that I was again allowed to breathe the fresh atmosphere and permitted to return to my native country.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
