Synonyms of defendants

defendants

noun

plural of defendant

as in offenders

a person who is being sued or accused of a crime in a court of law

The jury believed that the defendant was guilty.

Related Words

• offenders
• criminals
• suspects
• accused
• perpetrators
• culprits
• convicts
• arrestees
• detainees
• accomplices
• principals
• fish
• lawbreakers
• misdemeanants
• crooks
• malefactors
• miscreants
• outlaws
• desperadoes
• jailbirds
• villains
• wrongdoers
• trespassers
• perps
• racketeers
• gangsters
• thugs
• sinners
• mobsters
• hoodlums
• transgressors
• guns
• hooligans
• recidivists
• triggermen
• misdoers
• misfeasors
• evildoers
• gallows birds
• enforcers
• blackhanders
• backsliders
• gunmen
• button men
• gunsels
• hit men
• relapsers
• repeaters

Dissimilar Words

• lawmen
• gangbusters

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of defendants

Jayadev also said judges are asking defendants if their families or communities can afford to put up bail on their behalf. — Evelyn Ronan, Sacbee.com, 20 Aug. 2026

He and his wife are also named as defendants in Clemishire's lawsuit, but do not appear to be affected by this most recent ruling. — Andrea Lucia, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026

The school said there was not enough evidence to say which remains Lodge transported or showed to the other defendants. — Saleen Martin, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026

But our current electronic monitoring system undermines those goals when it is used as a substitute for detention of dangerous defendants. — Eileen Burke, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026

The Constitution protects defendants from being prosecuted for the same crime twice, but Mangione's dueling state and federal cases fall into one of the exceptions for double jeopardy. — Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026

The investors also allege in the suit that the defendants did not provide timely updates about the status of their investments and the company’s operations unless they were pressed. — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 14 Aug. 2026

When those decisions go wrong, the cost lands on defendants, victims and anyone whose future turns on what an examiner finds. — Lars Daniel, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2026