criminalist

noun

crim·​i·​nal·​ist ˈkri-mə-nə-list How to pronounce criminalist (audio)
: a specialist in criminalistics

Examples of criminalist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Among other things, defense lawyers uncovered crime lab records that showed troubling work history of criminalists who worked on the case, and that evidence had been mishandled. Greg Moran, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 June 2023 Singh remained across the street, pacing and on the phone as detectives arrived and police forensic criminalists photographed the victims and bullet casings scattered in the parking lot. oregonlive, 3 May 2023 The retired criminalist was the one who first worked the Hough murder. San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2022 The criminalist provided a forensic report to a police sergeant, who obtained an arrest warrant for the woman based largely on the DNA match, according to the lawsuit. Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 13 Sep. 2022 The Merritt letter joins a previous letter issued in February that raised concerns over the work of criminalist Connie Milton, who retired from the lab in March. San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Nov. 2021 Afterward, Dmitry Gorin, one of Grossman’s lawyers, called Orange County lab criminalist Kelly Brown to testify. Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2022 Lambert’s stunned reaction caught the criminalist off-guard. San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2022 That was John Simms, a criminalist respected by his peers for his thoroughness. San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'criminalist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of criminalist was in 1951

Dictionary Entries Near criminalist

Cite this Entry

“Criminalist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criminalist. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

Legal Definition

criminalist

noun
crim·​i·​nal·​ist ˈkri-mə-nə-list How to pronounce criminalist (audio)
: one who practices criminalistics as a profession
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