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sexual predator

American  
[sek-shoo-uhl pred-uh-ter, -tawr] / ˈsɛk ʃu əl ˈprɛd ə tər, -ˌtɔr /

noun

  1. a person who repeatedly commits sexual assault or other sex-related crimes, often targeting a specific type of victim.

    A sexual predator has been jailed for 13 years for his involvement in a child sex-trafficking ring.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of sexual predator

First recorded in 1965–70

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:

Streeting said the appointment was a "scandal", adding that "the really worrying aspect is... a candidate's known association with a convicted sexual predator did not weigh heavily enough on decision-makers".

From BBC Feb. 9, 2026

“There was a sexual predator in our community, and we thank the Mountain View Police Department for identifying him,” Santa Clara Dist.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 21, 2024

Some of her colleagues, she says, classify offenders in five sometimes overlapping categories: the ex-partner, the revenger of perceived wrongs, the rejected suitor, the lonely incompetent suitor and the sexual predator.

From Scientific American Jul. 26, 2023

Snyder filed the lawsuit, which was filed in India, in August after MEA WorldWide published a slew of articles in July that included linking the owner to sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

From Washington Times Feb. 22, 2021

Ripoff Report is one of hundreds of “complaint sites” — others include She’s a Homewrecker, Cheaterbot and Deadbeats Exposed — that let people anonymously expose an unreliable handyman, a cheating ex, a sexual predator.

From New York Times Jan. 30, 2021

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