as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law
people should know with certainty that criminal behavior will be punished
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in offender
a person who has committed a crime
car thieves, pickpockets, burglars, and other criminals
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of criminal
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
27 June 2026
Although the state medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, the state’s attorney declined to move forward with criminal charges.
—
Ginny Monk,
Hartford Courant,
27 June 2026
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
Are they being treated as criminals or as victims themselves of a global industry designed to extract their labor?
—
Justine Yan,
NPR,
21 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for criminal
Adjective
Jackson County prosecutors charged William O’Neal with one count of second-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action in Jackson County Circuit Court on Friday.
—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
27 June 2026
Although the state medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, the state’s attorney declined to move forward with criminal charges.
—
Ginny Monk,
Hartford Courant,
27 June 2026
Noun
His trilogy is, likewise, a straphangers’ gallery of metropolitan oddballs, from Zippo, a pyromaniac turned blaxploitation filmmaker, to Uncle Rich, a master criminal who stages a daring raid on the Waldorf-Astoria from a disused train tunnel with the help of a homeless army.
—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
Are they being treated as criminals or as victims themselves of a global industry designed to extract their labor?
—
Justine Yan,
NPR,
21 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for criminal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for criminal
Adjective
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Louisville police say anything that goes into the air or explodes is illegal for average citizens.
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Official fireworks shows took place over the city, and illegal pyrotechnics lit up the sky everywhere in between.
Noun
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Deputies responded to the area and identified an undisclosed number of juveniles as the offenders, officials said.
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Washington faces decisions about whether to sanction firms that engage in distillation, restrict the chips and cloud infrastructure that support it, and create legal safe harbors for American AI labs to share threat intelligence about offenders.
Adjective
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Nadi Jabari, 46, was charged with false personation, unlawful use of a blue light and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
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The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in Maryland, charged Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Adjective
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So far this year, 17 tons of illicit drugs, mostly cocaine, have been seized in the Pacific region – more than three times the total across the whole of last year, according to the Australian Federal Police.
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Australian Federal Police via AP Six others allegedly involved in the importation of the cocaine had previously been arrested and charged with offenses related to illicit drugs possession, police said.
Adjective
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Police were serving a search warrant from a felonious assault case.
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In August 2023, Shirilla was convicted of murder, felonious assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession, and criminal tools possession (psilocybin mushrooms and a scale were found at the crime scene).
Adjective
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The wrongful conviction came at the price of Powell’s freedom and overturning that conviction may now have its own price for the state.
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McCann Beatty filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county in December, which is still pending and which LeVota has said the county will not settle out of court.
Cite this Entry
“Criminal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/criminal. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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