criminal

B1 Topic:Crime & Justice

US /ˈkɹɪm.ə.nəl/ UK /ˈkɹɪm.ɪ.nəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #1539

Meanings

1

noun
A person who has broken the law.

The police finally caught the criminal who had robbed the bank.
2

adj
Relating to crime or to the law that deals with crime.

He has a long criminal record going back many years.
3

adj
So wrong or wasteful that it seems shocking.

It would be criminal to waste such a talented young player.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who has broken the... crook culprit felonlawbreakeroffender

2 adj · relating to crime or to the... illegal unlawful felonious

Word family

Forms criminals

Derived forms anticriminalarchcriminalcriminaldomcriminalesecriminalesscriminalisationcriminalisecriminalishcriminalismcriminalistcriminalisticcriminalistics

Etymology

From Middle English cryminal, borrowed from Anglo-Norman criminal, from Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen (“crime”).

*krey- Proto-Indo-European cryminal Middle English criminal xno criminalis la-lat crimen Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# criminal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɹɪm.ə.nəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɹɪm.ɪ.nəl/
**Frequency rank:** 1539

## Meanings
1. A person who has broken the law.
2. Relating to crime or to the law that deals with crime.
3. So wrong or wasteful that it seems shocking.

## Examples
- The police finally caught the criminal who had robbed the bank.
- He has a long criminal record going back many years.
- It would be criminal to waste such a talented young player.

## Derived Forms
- anticriminal
- archcriminal
- criminaldom
- criminalese
- criminaless
- criminalisation
- criminalise
- criminalish
- criminalism
- criminalist
- criminalistic
- criminalistics

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *krey-
- Root: cryminal
- Root: criminal
- Root: criminalis
- Root: crimen

## Etymology
From Middle English cryminal, borrowed from Anglo-Norman criminal, from Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen (“crime”).

## AI Etymology
criminal comes from Middle English cryminal, borrowed from Anglo-Norman criminal, from Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen (“crime”). The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *krey-, Middle English cryminal, xno criminal, la-lat criminalis, Latin crimen. Current senses include A person who has broken the law and Relating to crime or to the law that deals with crime. English relatives and later formations include anticriminal, archcriminal, criminaldom.

## Topics
- Crime & Justice

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criminal

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