delinquent

noun

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de·lin·quent | \ di-ˈliŋ-kwənt

, -ˈlin- \

Definition of delinquent

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a usually young person who regularly performs illegal or immoral acts

delinquent

adjective

Definition of delinquent (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : offending by neglect or violation of duty or of law … were clearly delinquent in not immediately alerting Western Europe to the accident …— Richard Wilson

2 : being overdue in payment a delinquent charge account … efforts to crack down on parents delinquent in child-support payments …— Todd S. Purdum

3 : of, relating to, or characteristic of people who regularly perform illegal or immoral acts : marked by delinquency (see delinquency sense 1b) delinquent behavior

Other Words from delinquent Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About delinquent

Synonyms & Antonyms for delinquent

Synonyms: Adjective

Antonyms: Adjective

Examples of delinquent in a Sentence

Noun a group of violent delinquents Adjective a school for delinquent children His delinquent behavior could lead to more serious problems. The town is trying to collect delinquent taxes.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun He was arrested in October 2015 and April 2016 for a string of offenses, including robbery, false imprisonment, battery, possession of marijuana, possession of a firearm by a delinquent, and fleeing a law enforcement officer. — Justine Browning, EW.com, 16 July 2022 In the crushing true-life drama Only The Brave—his first movie with Top Gun: Maverick director Joe Kosinski—Teller plays Brendan McDonough, a drug addict delinquent looking to turn his life around to provide for his newborn daughter. — Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 9 June 2022 The facility will serve dual purposes as a correctional facility for youth found delinquent of crimes and as a detention facility for youth from Racine and surrounding counties being held temporarily or while awaiting trial. — Sarah Volpenhein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 13 May 2022 Sure enough, all are present in this unpredictable tale of mutual misfit attraction between a juvenile delinquent and the middle-aged actor whose role in his life shifts from mentor to mother to lover. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 Feb. 2022 Proper parenting would result in a well-mannered adult Tamagotchi, while inattention would result in a delinquent. — Michelle Delgado, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Dec. 2021 The largest delinquent at the time was a Shelton business that owed more than $500,000. — Christopher Keating, courant.com, 10 Nov. 2021 With no bidders on the remaining tax delinquent Taylor Tudor buildings put up at sheriff’s sale -- not once but twice -- the city has now acquired them through the Cuyahoga County Land Bank for $200. — Thomas Jewell, cleveland, 24 Aug. 2021 Nicole Johnson was charged nearly four years ago with reckless endangerment and contributing to conditions that leave a child delinquent or in need of supervision. — Washington Post, 30 July 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Juveniles can be ordered by a judge to Division of Youth Services care if declared delinquent by a court, according to the Arkansas Department of Health website. — Teresa Moss, Arkansas Online, 26 July 2022 Philadelphia, which declared a heat emergency starting on Thursday, halted a plan to shut off water to customers with delinquent bills, citing the heat wave. — New York Times, 24 July 2022 Philadelphia, which declared a heat emergency starting Thursday, halted a plan to shut off water to customers with delinquent bills, citing the heat wave. — Ali Watkins, BostonGlobe.com, 24 July 2022 The wait in reporting delinquent debt will give patients time to figure out how to resolve a bill, noted Chi Chi Wu, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. — Tom Murphy, Anchorage Daily News, 30 June 2022 No matter what the situation, having delinquent tax debt that is being pursued by IRS Collections or by a PCA can be scary. — Amber Gray-fenner, Forbes, 29 June 2022 Despite these headwinds, the share of office mortgages that are delinquent remains low. — Konrad Putzier, WSJ, 5 July 2022 The program, which has paid delinquent rent for about 4,700 households, received its funding from the Consolidated Appropriations Act approved by Congress in December 2020, said Dianne Arnold who oversees the application process for the county. — Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel, 13 July 2022 The woman was instructed to settle her delinquent account by sending money through the Zelle banking application and to send payments to an unknown party. — cleveland, 28 June 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'delinquent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for delinquent

Noun

earlier, "person failing in a duty, offender," borrowed from Middle French delinquant, noun derivative from present participle of delinquer "to commit an offense," borrowed from Latin dēlinquere "to be lacking, fall short of an approved standard, misbehave, commit (an offense)" — more at delinquent entry 2

Adjective

borrowed from Latin dēlinquent-, dēlinquens, present participle of dēlinquere "to be lacking, fall short of an approved standard, misbehave, commit (an offense)," from dē- de- + linquō, linquere (perfect līquī) "to go away from, leave, leave behind, abandon, desist from," going back to Indo-European *li-n-k^w-/*li-né-k^w- "leaves behind" (whence also Sanskrit riṇákti "[s/he] leaves behind," Avestan irinaxti, Old Irish léicid "[s/he] lets go, leaves behind"), ar-léici "[s/he] lets go, releases, lends," present tense derivative from the base *lei̯k^w- "leave behind, distance oneself from," whence also, with varying ablaut, Greek leípō, leípein (aorist élipon) "to leave, quit, be missing," Armenian likʼ "(s/he) left, let go," Old Prussian polāikt "to remain," Lithuanian liekù, lìkti, Germanic *līhwan- "to grant, lend" (whence Old English lēon "to lend, grant," Old Saxon farlīhan, Old High German līhan, Old Norse ljá, Gothic leihwan "to lend")

Note: The specialization of sense in Germanic (from "leave behind" to "lend") is distinctive and has been variously explained. Attention has been drawn to the derivative *laihna- "something lent," perhaps from "something left as a legacy," with apparent counterparts in Indo-Iranian (see loan entry 1), and it has been argued that the noun's influence has restricted the meaning of the verb (see Antoine Meillet, "Sur le suffixe indo-européen *-nes-," Mémoires de la Société Linguistique de Paris, tome 15 [1908-09], pp. 254-56).