Library / English Dictionary

OUTLAW

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:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("outlaw" 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 "outlaw"):

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:

outlaw (declare illegal; outlaw)

outlaw (disobedient to or defiant of law)

outlaw (contrary to or forbidden by law)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Disobedient to or defiant of law

Example:

lawless bands roaming the plains

Synonyms:

lawless; outlaw

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

unlawful (contrary to or prohibited by or defiant of law)

Derivation:

outlaw (someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Contrary to or forbidden by law

Example:

unlawful measures

Synonyms:

illegitimate; illicit; outlaw; outlawed; unlawful

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

illegal (prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules)

Derivation:

outlaw (someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Declare illegal; outlaw

Example:

Marijuana is criminalized in the U.S.

Synonyms:

criminalise; criminalize; illegalise; illegalize; outlaw

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "outlaw" is one way to...):

disallow; forbid; interdict; nix; prohibit; proscribe; veto (command against)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "outlaw"):

ban; censor (forbid the public distribution of ( a movie or a newspaper))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

legalize (make legal)

Derivation:

outlaw (someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime)

outlawry (illegality as a consequence of unlawful acts; defiance of the law)

Credits