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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Recent Examples of defendant
The defendants also allegedly submitted fraudulent documents in order to receive more than $700,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington and Nevada.
—
Louisa Moller, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
Robinson’s attorneys have ramped up claims of bias as the case has advanced, even accusing news outlets of using lip readers to deduce what the defendant is whispering to his attorneys during court hearings.
—Matthew Brown, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
Haymon is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
—Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Marcelino pled guilty to four counts of lewd acts on a child 14 or 15 years old, with the defendant being at least 10 years older; three counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14; one count of false imprisonment; and one count of injuring a child.
—Stephanie Kaloi, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for defendant
Louisa Moller, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
Robinson’s attorneys have ramped up claims of bias as the case has advanced, even accusing news outlets of using lip readers to deduce what the defendant is whispering to his attorneys during court hearings.
—Matthew Brown, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
Haymon is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
—Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Marcelino pled guilty to four counts of lewd acts on a child 14 or 15 years old, with the defendant being at least 10 years older; three counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14; one count of false imprisonment; and one count of injuring a child.
—Stephanie Kaloi, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for defendant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defendant
Noun
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The committee voted to fully fund payments to jails, which have housed some offenders as a backup, and for medical payments.—
The Denver Post,
Denver Post,
31 Jan. 2026
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An Illinois man faces child pornography charges in Waukesha County under a new Wisconsin law that aims to punish offenders who use artificial intelligence to generate explicit images.—
Chris Ramirez,
jsonline.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Immigration and Integration Minister Rasmus Stoklund said 315 foreign criminals from countries outside the European Union had received sentences of more than a year over the last five years but were not expelled.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
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The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment, but officials there have broadly defended the department’s actions as not only justified but necessary for ensuring the rule of law and holding alleged criminals to account.—
Kevin Rector,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Thomas then appeared to quickly lunge at Leon, swiftly grabbing and lifting him up before body slamming the suspect to the ground.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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Chicago police are searching for a female suspect who attacked three people with a sharp object during a fight Thursday evening on the West Side in the Garfield Park neighborhood.—
Deanese Williams-Harris,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The idea behind genetic genealogy is to take DNA from a crime scene and enter it into a publicly accessible genealogy DNA database in hopes of finding a close enough match to relatives of the unknown perpetrator.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
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Two chairs were found propped up by the window, mirroring how they had been placed outside Elizabeth’s home — a detail only the perpetrator would have known, as police had not released that information to the public, according to the documentary.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defendant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defendant. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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