criminal
Americanadjective
noun
noun
-
a person charged with and convicted of crime
-
a person who commits crimes for a living
adjective
-
of, involving, or guilty of crime
-
(prenominal) of or relating to crime or its punishment
criminal court
criminal lawyer
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informal senseless or deplorable
a criminal waste of money
Usage
What is a basic definition of criminal? A criminal is a person who commits crime. Criminal is also used to describe something involved in committing crime or related to crime. Criminal has a few other senses as an adjective. A criminal is a person who breaks the law and engages in illegal activity.
- Real-life examples: Shoplifters, kidnappers, bank robbers, and pirates are all criminals.
- Used in a sentence: The judged sentenced the two wanted criminals to prison for stealing a car.
- Real-life examples: Stealing a car, robbing someone’s house, and printing fake money to use as real money are all criminal acts. They are all against the law, and a person will be arrested if caught doing any of these acts. Police might say a person is accused of criminal activity if they believe the person was doing something illegal.
- Used in a sentence: The gangster Al Capone was in charge of a criminal organization.
- Real-life examples: In the United States, criminal law is a collection of laws that state what the government or society says is a crime and will result in punishment by the state if someone is proved to have broken the law. A criminal lawyer is a lawyer who specializes in criminal law.
- Used in a sentence: When Jimmy was arrested for breaking into his neighbor’s house, he called a criminal lawyer to help him.
Related Words
See illegal.
Other Word Forms
- criminally adverb
- noncriminal adjective
- noncriminally adverb
- quasi-criminal adjective
- quasi-criminally adverb
- subcriminal adjective
- subcriminally adverb
- supercriminal adjective
- supercriminally adverb
- uncriminal adjective
- uncriminally adverb
Etymology
Origin of criminal
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin crīminālis, from Latin crīmin- (stem of crīmen “accusation, blame, charge”; see crime) + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
A criminal is someone who breaks the law. If you're a murderer, thief, or tax cheat, you're a criminal. When you think of criminals, your first thought might be of someone awful like a murderer. But this word is a lot broader — Anyone who breaks the law is technically a criminal, even if the crime is just not paying a speeding ticket. You can also talk about criminal activities: things that are illegal. Lots of TV shows are about police officers and lawyers trying to catch criminals who are engaged in all kinds of exciting criminal activity.
Vocabulary lists containing criminal
Way Off: Synonyms for "Wrong"
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Module 1: Vocabulary Video Words
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Crime and Punishment
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the time, the deputies “warned her that she could face potential criminal charges if she continued to allow him to ride the e-motorcycle, which he could not legally ride,” the release said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
On Wednesday prosecutors said Plahotniuc had used "his influence in the public, political, financial and criminal environments" to allegedly coordinate "a network... in order to obtain illicit benefits".
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the original Clayface was a washed-up actor turned criminal who first appeared in a 1940 issue of “Detective Comics.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
He has acknowledged the 2002 flight, but said he had “never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein” and that the trip was “years before their criminal conduct came to light.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
“Lionel Holbyne is half criminal, half haircut. I wouldn’t trust him further than I could throw him. In fact, considerably less far. Explain yourselves. Now.”
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
