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

The San Jose Police Department is investigating the incident as a hate crime, authorities said. —Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2025

The back-and-forth comes as Gendron is expected to go on trial next year for federal hate crime charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty, which federal prosecutors vowed to pursue. —Christopher Cann, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2025

Last year, the city of Toronto averaged more than one anti-Jewish incident a day, accounting for 40 percent of all reported hate crimes in Canada’s largest city. —David Frum, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2025

Although Jews account for less than 1% of Canada’s population, antisemitism was behind 18.8% of all reported hate crimes in 2024. —Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 13 Aug. 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