political crime

American  

[puh-lit-i-kuhl krahym] / pəˈlɪt ɪ kəl ˈkraɪm /

noun

political crimes plural

1. a crime considered by a government or state to be committed against it or its interests, or to have been committed with the intent of destabilizing or threatening it or its interests.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• political crimes
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

political crime

“Because these perpetrators were held accountable, it would be nearly impossible for a political crime of this level to happen again,” I remember our teacher telling the class.

From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2026

At the beginning of “Widows,” a tightly coiled, blisteringly political crime thriller from British director Steve McQueen, four women bid farewell to their husbands for the last time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2018

International human-rights organizations and freedom-of-expression groups have been calling for the Narvarte murders to be fully investigated as a possible political crime.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 14, 2015

Wellington, stupidly wrong as he so often was, declared that even so moderate a reform as the bill proposed would be "a greater political crime than any committed in history".

From The Guardian ● May 3, 2013

Nothing is more difficult than to define a political crime.

From The Theory of Social Revolutions by Adams, Brooks