Synonyms of malefactors

malefactors

noun

plural of malefactor

1

as in criminals

a person who commits moral wrongs

she regards anyone who would cause the breakup of a family as a malefactor of the worst sort

Synonyms & Similar Words

• criminals
• offenders
• wrongdoers
• sinners
• villains
• evildoers
• immoralists
• corrupters
• lawbreakers
• transgressors
• felons
• reprobates
• crooks
• miscreants
• misdoers
• misfeasors

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• saints
• angels
• innocents

2

as in offenders

a person who has committed a crime

the victim was able to give a clear description of the malefactor to the police

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• lawmen
• gangbusters

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of malefactors

Once a small-time robber, Pepper is now crumbling from advanced age and damage inflicted by many malefactors, including Pepper himself. — David Hajdu, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026

To be confronted by Mike Wallace was the deepest dread of countless malefactors in public and corporate life. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 5 June 2026

Electronic medical records were once touted as secure, but whole hospital systems have been taken down and held for ransom by malefactors. — Cory Franklin, Twin Cities, 23 Nov. 2025

The Sea of Excrement, with its bobbing malefactors, is especially memorable. — New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025

On social media, Tan was pugilistic to the point of belligerence, casting his political enemies as corrupt malefactors responsible for the despoliation of his beloved city. — Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025

Either way, The Lowdown finds Harjo dipping into pleasantly familiar reservoirs of fiction in which the protagonists know how to take a constant beating, the malefactors are all suspiciously verbose and ostentatious hats abound. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019