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

Following a 24-day trial, the jury found an allegation that the defendants laid in wait was true, prosecutors said. — Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 23 July 2026

This meant that the Hus' complaints were justified and ― since an element of a tortious interference claim is that the defendants' conduct was unjustified ― this cause of action by RCA failed as well. — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026

Meanwhile, Martinez and six other defendants are set to go to trial in August 2027 for an array of charges including drug trafficking and firearms offenses, as well as directing and carrying out violent crimes on behalf of a criminal organization. — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026

Early on July 31, Lyons drove the co-defendants to Everspring Pharmacy in Maryland Heights, casing it, according to the plea agreements. — Kansas City Star, 23 July 2026

Judge Laina Fetherolf has set the bond for the three defendants who remain in jail at $300,000. — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026

If the judge agrees, the claims against Rodríguez would be dismissed, while the judgment against the remaining defendants would remain intact. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 22 July 2026

Trump later pardoned or commuted the sentences of virtually all defendants involved in the riot. — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 16 July 2026