DEFENDANT Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

defendant

noun

Definition of defendant

as in offender

a person who is being sued or accused of a crime in a court of law The jury believed that the defendant was guilty.

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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 defendant Whether defendant Tyler Robinson acted out of political animus could be key for prosecutors seeking the death penalty — or for his attorneys in taking that punishment off the table. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026 Whether defendant Tyler Robinson acted out of political animus could be key for prosecutors seeking the death penalty - or for his attorneys in taking that punishment off the table. — CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026 With thousands of defendants and countless individualized schedules, effective oversight becomes extraordinarily difficult. — Eileen Burke, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026 Havana said 40 defendants had faced criminal proceedings between 2023 and 2025, with 26 convicted. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 19 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for defendant

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defendant

Noun

Hansen’s sentence was first reduced to 25 years to life, and the state later created a pathway to earlier parole for many youthful offenders serving life sentences.

— Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
From names like ChatGPT and Gemini to Meta AI, Perplexity, and even Grok, the report identifies which chatbots are the most privacy-friendly and transparent in their practices and which are the worst offenders.

— Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of offender

Noun

Boxing is fun especially when the boxer in question is beating up criminals in East London.

— Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Working together to track these flows would reduce the chance that international criminals can extend their reach beyond any single jurisdiction.

— Alvin Camba, Foreign Affairs, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of criminal

Noun

A Little Rock police incident report lists Shelton as a suspect in the theft of mail from the post office at 7401 Colonel Glenn Road, where a blue postal collection box had been broken into early Friday.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Aug. 2026
Smith said the suspect has two TikTok accounts and one Instagram account.

— Dennis Romero, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of suspect

Noun

But, in an unexpected twist for the ranger, the faith leader is involved in the robberies though as a victim not a perpetrator.

— Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Video recordings and documents detail how investigators pursued the case, and the possibility of abuse, for months but failed to identify a perpetrator.

— Amy Brittain, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of perpetrator

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defendable

defendant

defendants

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“Defendant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defendant. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of defendant

noun

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