offender

[uh-fen-der]

noun

1. someone who has violated a criminal, religious, or moral law.

   The program aids individuals already in the criminal justice system and is geared toward nonviolent offenders.

2. a person or thing that irritates, annoys, or angers.

   Some of us tried to take matters into our own hands by confronting the noise pollution offenders, but they were entirely unwilling to quiet down.

3. something that is disagreeable.

   If you’re curious about the odor, I’m afraid you’ll find that the offender is a catbox that has not been emptied recently.

Other Word Forms

• nonoffender noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of offender¹

offend ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

The new rules exacerbated other causes on both the A320neo and its predecessor, helping transform what had been mostly isolated incidents into a pattern of repeat offenders, the Journal’s analysis suggests.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Cops were forced to police the crowd’s behavior, yanking the worst offenders from the rope line.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Reporting of such young offenders, however, is not always consistent across schools and police forces, as the age of criminal responsibility is 10.

Read more on BBC

In 2017, ministers allowed offenders who had been released on licence the right to vote - but made clear that Parliament would never allow votes for criminals still in prison cells.

Read more on BBC

He encouraged residents to report thefts or other types of crimes to the Police Department to assist in identifying trends or possibly repeat offenders.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• convict 
• criminal 
• culprit 
• delinquent 
• felon 
• lawbreaker 
• suspect