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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malefactors
  1. criminals
  2. offenders
  3. wrongdoers
  4. sinners
  5. villains
Noun
  • That is what makes seemingly basic personal information so useful to criminals.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.
    — Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • Sincere Lanier, 22, is one of several offenders who allegedly stole from machines at Stella’s Place March 24 and Avenue Flower Shop and Wine Bar March 29, Oak Lawn police say.
    — Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Too often, special occasions can feel like an excuse to buy a new outfit; weddings are the worst offenders.
    — Corinne Pierre-Louis, Vogue, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of offenders
Noun
  • There’s no major wreckage here, nor is comeuppance meted out to the wrongdoers.
    — Natalia Winkelman, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026
  • The Native community had its own ways of punishing wrongdoers, but Stevens’ role was to protect her client’s constitutional rights.
    — Mackenzie Farkus, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of wrongdoers
Noun
  • On one page, tiny, antlike sinners tumbled down a cliff toward perdition.
    — Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
  • That relationship was based on sinners confessing their sins to this vicar.
    — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 14 June 2026
Definition of sinners
Noun
  • The station is soon invaded by out-of-time baseball stars, fairytale villains, and unseasonal snow, all created by aliens eager to understand the concept of imagination.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The zombie is one of the most elastic and grotesque villains in the genre, shifting dramatically from early-Hollywood films built on racial stereotypes to the now-popular vision of a monster that yearns to devour those still living.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of villains

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malefactor
malefactors
maleness
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Cite this Entry

“Malefactors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malefactors. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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