legal Definition of scienter
1
: knowledge of the nature of one's act or omission or of the nature of something in one's possession that is often a necessary element of an offense
- the scienter element constitutionally required for an obscenity statute
- —Wall Dist. v. Newport News, 323 S.E.2d 75 (1984)
- a few environmental statutes…do away altogether with the need to prove scienter…requiring no proof of criminal intent whatsoever
- —R. J. Kafin et al.
2
: a mental state in fraud (as securities fraud) that is characterized by an intent to deceive, manipulate, or defraud
