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

All hate crimes are reprehensible. —Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 7 Oct. 2025

Nessel spoke about the work of her office’s Hate Crimes Unit, warning that Michigan reported about 620 hate crimes in 2024 — more than 50 incidents a month. —Nour Rahal, Freep.com, 4 Oct. 2025

Cases of antisemitism and hate crimes towards Jewish Americans have also surged in recent years. —Callum Sutherland, Time, 2 Oct. 2025

Anti-gay hate crimes accounted for 12 percent of the total last year. —Sarah Fortinsky, The Hill, 29 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