hate crime

noun

: any of various crimes (such as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (such as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)

Examples of hate crime in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Last month, Terrogram’s co-leader from California pled guilty to federal charges of soliciting hate crimes and calling for the murder of government officials via a hit list of high-value targets. —Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 25 Sep. 2025

Police and fire officials immediately began investigating the fire, which happened just days ahead of the start of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, as an arson and hate crime. —Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 2025

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office also released a statement stating that hate crimes will not be tolerated in the region. —Mason Leath, ABC News, 22 Sep. 2025

For example, a politically motivated shooting might be coded as terrorism in federal reporting, cataloged as political violence by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, and prosecuted as a homicide or a hate crime at the state level. —Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hate crime

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime

Kids Definition

hate crime

noun

plural hate crimes

: any of various crimes (as assault) when motivated by hostility to the victim based on social characteristics (as color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin)

Legal Definition

hate crime

noun

: a crime that violates the victim's civil rights and that is motivated by hostility to the victim's race, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender