crimes

noun

plural of crime
1
as in shames
a regrettable or blameworthy act it's a crime to waste food, so give the rest of the pizza to me

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in violations
a breaking of a moral or legal code anyone who commits a crime should expect to be punished for it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of crimes King County prosecutors charged 33 people with crimes for the May 2025 riot at UW. — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2026 Giving love a bad name or Love crimes The Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA), a group that promotes safe online dating, has spoken out opposing Leviev's plan for the app. — Natasha Holt, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026 At that point, Jesse had been dead for a decade, and Frank had been tried for crimes three times—in Missouri, then Alabama, and back to Missouri again. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026 The show brings together Robinson and Evonitz's ex-wife, who was married to him during many of his crimes, to try to bring closure to the families of his victims. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 2 Oct. 2026 Elsa demands that Thatcher apologize for her crimes, but Thatcher refuses. — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026 These crimes have been much more common in San Francisco than thefts of the cars themselves. — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026 But tracing where guns came from and whether they have been used in other crimes is time-consuming. — Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026 Officers from the Investigative Psychology Unit, which specializes in complex or serial violent crimes, are part of the investigation. — ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crimes
  1. shames
  2. violations
  3. sins
  4. felonies
  5. outrages
  6. wrongdoings
  7. misdeeds
Noun
  • While his character jokes casually about the shames of flying commercial, Ruck apologizes several times when referencing that, after 40 years of acting, work trips are often flown first class.
    — Kaitlin Menza, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Nov. 2021
Definition of shames
Noun
  • All violations would carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
    — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • When Newt Gingrich lost support because of ethics violations and the GOP's poor showing in an election, Republicans elected Hastert to succeed him.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of violations
Noun
  • The sins of 2003 were not merely in launching a war but also in how the story was told and masked.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Kaporos is intended to symbolize the transfer of one’s sins to a chicken.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of sins
Noun
  • Immigration and the border California law bars local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials except in the cases of people convicted of certain high-level felonies.
    — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • In some states, these charges are misdemeanors or lower-level felonies.
    — Tim Stelloh, NBC news, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of felonies
Noun
  • The liberal list of Republican offenses is long—so long, indeed, that the outrages blur.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Look, of the outrages, these are like the least among them, as far as being upset with the administration, with the president.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 June 2026
Definition of outrages
Noun
  • Typically, people will try to make amends with each other and seek forgiveness for wrongdoings.
    — Bailey Allen, The Providence Journal, 10 Sep. 2026
  • That is how the Trumps and Bidens get away with their wrongdoings.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of wrongdoings
Noun
  • With local cops, plagued by rumors of departmental misdeeds, looking for a peaceful solution and federal authorities contemplating extreme action, the situation escalates.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2026
  • More recently, investigations of financial misdeeds have inspired public ennui.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of misdeeds

Browse Nearby Words

crime
crimes
criminal
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crimes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crimes. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of etiquette

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All