RECIDIVIST Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

recidivist

noun

Definition of recidivist

as in offender

formal a person who continues to commit crimes even after being caught and punished

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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 recidivist Electronic monitoring and house arrest are heavily weighted as options for certain recidivist offenders. — Greg Norman , Charles Creitz, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2025 Gerald Ford, who was President during the peak of the arson wave, publicly mentioned the Bronx just once, to go by the American Presidency Project, and that was to commend Merola’s office for locking up recidivists. — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025 Another inspection list recidivist in March, Sang’s is a member of Miami-Dade’s Wretched Restaurant Row, restaurants along 167th Street/163rd Street that have failed inspection, often with an earth’s core deep level of disgusting violations. — David J. Neal updated August 8, Miami Herald, 8 Aug. 2025 Yet this seemingly entirely unnecessary act of recidivist safeguarding was how Tristan da Cunha came to be populated. — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 23 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for recidivist

Recent Examples of Synonyms for recidivist

Noun

Because of his previous felonies, though none for violent crimes, Pfister could now be defined as a habitual offender under Michigan law and faces prison.

— Kyung Lah, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
That’s like staying in the dugout during a bench-clearing brawl after a pitcher plonks a batter, then offering the offender a handshake the next inning.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026

Definition of offender

Noun

The detective-heroines (and especially the actress-detectives) in this canon are careful about how performance might be extended to social duplicity, dishonesty, and fraud—but the lady criminals of Victorian detective fiction cross this line easily.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 July 2026
From 1873 to 1991, the island served as Costa Rica’s principal penitentiary, where some of the country’s worst criminals were sent to serve often short and torturous sentences.

— Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 24 July 2026

Definition of criminal

Noun

The Northern Neck Regional Jail, where Paul Manafort will spend at least the next three months while awaiting trial, has the outward appearance of being a small local jail holding street thugs and assorted misdemeanants.

— Tom Jackman, chicagotribune.com, 16 June 2018
The Northern Neck Regional Jail, where Paul Manafort will spend at least the next three months while awaiting trial, has the outward appearance of being a small local jail holding street thugs and assorted misdemeanants.

— Tom Jackman, Washington Post, 16 June 2018

Definition of misdemeanant

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rechristens

recidivist

recidivists

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“Recidivist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recidivist. Accessed 28 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of recidivist

noun

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