delinquent

1 of 2

noun

de·​lin·​quent di-ˈliŋ-kwənt 

-ˈlin-

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

delinquent

2 of 2

adjective

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

delinquently adverb

Synonyms

Adjective

• behind
• behindhand
• belated
• late
• latish
• overdue
• tardy

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

After 90 days of nonpayment, student loan servicers report delinquent, or past-due, accounts to major credit bureaus, which use the information to recalculate the borrower’s score. —Cora Lewis, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2025

Giancana had risen from a juvenile delinquent to the Outfit’s upper echelon. —Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2025

Adjective

The Federal Reserve of New York study also found that borrowers ages 40 and older were most likely to be delinquent on their loans. —Cora Lewis, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2025

Yet enforcement was impossible, for there was no way to track down absent and delinquent fathers. —Augustine Sedgewick, Time, 13 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

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).

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

delinquent

1 of 2 noun

de·​lin·​quent di-ˈliŋ-kwənt 

: a delinquent person

delinquent

2 of 2 adjective

1

: offending by neglect or violation of duty or of law

2

: being overdue in payment

a delinquent charge account

delinquency

-kwən-sē

noun

delinquently adverb

Medical Definition

delinquent

1 of 2 noun

de·​lin·​quent -kwənt 

: a transgressor against duty or the law especially in a degree not constituting crime

specifically : juvenile delinquent

delinquent

2 of 2 adjective

1

: offending by neglect or violation of duty or of law

2

: of, relating to, or characteristic of delinquents : marked by delinquency

delinquently adverb

Legal Definition

delinquent

1 of 2 noun

de·​lin·​quent di-ˈliŋ-kwənt 

: a delinquent person

especially : juvenile delinquent

delinquent

2 of 2 adjective

1

a

: offending by neglect or violation of duty or law

delinquent acts

b

: characterized by juvenile delinquency

delinquent youth

2

: being overdue in payment

delinquent taxes

was delinquent in his child support payments

Etymology

Adjective

Latin delinquent-, delinquens, present participle of delinquere to commit (an offense), err