criminate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to charge with a crime.
-
to incriminate.
-
to censure (something) as criminal; condemn.
verb
-
to charge with a crime; accuse
-
to condemn or censure (an action, event, etc)
-
short for incriminate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of criminate
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin crīminātus, past participle of crīminārī “to accuse”; see origin at crime, -ate 1
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.
See Examples For:
As in law, so in morals, no man need criminate himself, but he who does so by an inadvertence is lost.
From One Of Them by Charles James Lever
I had instantly made up my mind that I would say nothing to criminate any one.
From The Gentleman Cadet His Career and Adventures at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich by A.W. Drayson
"How so?" asked Leuthold quietly, believing that he had destroyed every scrap of paper that could criminate him.
From Only a Girl: or, A Physician for the Soul. by Wilhelmine von Hillern
Without further parley, Webster and Mrs. Lawton prepared to accompany their guards, and Cashmeyer, demanding their keys, commenced a search of their trunks, which resulted in his finding nothing that would criminate his prisoners.
From The Spy of the Rebellion Being a True History of the Spy System of the United States Army during the Late Rebellion, by Allan Pinkerton
When the Commission met, and the treasurer and his deputy were called before it, they refused to answer questions which would criminate themselves.
From Triumphs of Invention and Discovery in Art and Science by J. Hamilton Fyfe
Intellectuals were denied free expression; businessmen were dis criminated against in favor of nobles.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
She criminated Charles, and Charles recriminated and threatened her, and for one night the palace was filled with the noise and uproar of the quarrel.
From History of King Charles the Second of England by Jacob Abbott
The utmost ingenuity of vindictive priests never extorted from her a word which criminated her, though they subjected her to inquisitorial examinations for days and weeks.
From Beacon Lights of History, Volume 07 Great Women by John Lord
Many other questions were put to him, but he refused to answer them; and as they would all more or less have criminated himself as a poacher, his refusals were admitted.
From The Poacher Joseph Rushbrook by Frederick Marryat
They concurred in everything which she had told me, and repeated, without any signs of shame or compunction, things which criminated themselves.
From Awful Disclosures Containing, Also, Many Incidents Never before Published by Maria Monk
I lave extremely acute hearing and vision, plus a sense of smell extraordinarily dis criminating ...
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
Once some of the novelty wears off, Xerox users will probably learn to be a little more dis criminating about what they copy.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
There is a rashness in criminating this retirement from every-day political conflicts which is, to say the least, very short-sighted.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 80, June, 1864 by Various
Vampa wrote a criminating letter to the girl purporting to come from Massetti, and old Solara, stealing unobserved into the hut, placed it beneath his daughter's work-box on her table where she afterwards found it.
From Monte-Cristo's Daughter by Edmund Flagg
For this he was indebted to one of the girls who would not join the others in criminating him.
From The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War which Established the Independence of his Country and First President of the United States by John Marshall
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.