serial killer

British

noun

a person who carries out a series of murders

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

These allegations of corruption – amongst the same Suffolk officials tasked with investigating the murders of sex workers – only added fuel to the conspiracy theories around law enforcement connections to the serial killer.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

Snakeoil, whose organization offers services for unhoused people, said she first encountered Becerra Moran at MacArthur Park in late 2023, when police were warning about a serial killer who appeared to be targeting homeless people.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2025

Convicted serial killer Lucy Letby is back in the news after a panel of medical experts working with her defence team said they believe the 35-year-old did not commit the murders.

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2025

What were the unique challenges of portraying a female serial killer?

From Salon • Oct. 22, 2024

But the historical record makes Homo sapiens look like an ecological serial killer.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023