misdemeanor
Americannoun
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Law. a criminal offense defined as less serious than a felony.
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an instance of misbehavior; misdeed.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of misdemeanor
Explanation
A misdemeanor is a minor offense, rather than a serious crime. A minor infraction like keeping a library book for years or stealing a pack of bubblegum would be considered a misdemeanor. A crime like murder is serious, a felony that can land the person who commits it in jail for a long time. A misdemeanor, on the other hand, is a far less serious offense. Commit a misdemeanor such as petty theft, and you might not get more than a slap on the wrist.
Vocabulary lists containing misdemeanor
The Constitution of the United States
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Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
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Dear Martin
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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.
See Examples For:
Opening a school without registering is a misdemeanor under Florida law.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
So when state troopers spotted the suds, they charged Mr. Jouppi with a misdemeanor for knowingly transporting it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Jacob Daniel Terrazas, 31, previously pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor count of simple assault on a federal officer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office also ultimately decided against filing misdemeanor charges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The usual bail for such a misdemeanor would be $500.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Pirro vowed to hold to account anyone who damages national monuments and said her office is reviewing about a half-dozen other cases which will be misdemeanors or violations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Two days earlier, the commission voted unanimously to bifurcate the duties of the city attorney, currently an elected official who prosecutes misdemeanors and represents the city in civil litigation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026
Despite the seriousness of the case, this is the only part of it that has come to trial and took place in a court concerned only by misdemeanors.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
Eventually, Hendrix was charged with disorderly conduct misdemeanors, but only after she had already raised more than $800,000 on GiveSendGo.
From Slate ● Dec. 10, 2025
Arrests for misdemeanors, for the kind of minor offenses that had gone unnoticed in the past, went up fivefold between 1990 and 1994.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
