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

Rodriguez had previously been charged with murder of foreign officials and other crimes, and the hate crimes charges were added after prosecutors brought the case to a grand jury. —Alanna Durkin Richer, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2025

He was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on charges of premeditated murder and hate crimes resulting in death, meaning the DOJ was able to convince the grand jury that Rodriguez was primarily motivated by antisemitism rather than anti-Israel sentiment. —Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 6 Aug. 2025

The figures, released by the agency on Tuesday, Aug. 5, in its annual national crime report, also show a dip in property crime and hate crimes reported from January to December of last year. —Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 5 Aug. 2025

Antisemitism in Canada surged following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, culminating in a record 920 hate crimes targeting Jews last year. —Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 30 July 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