as in offenders
formal
a person who continues to commit crimes even after being caught and punished
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Recent Examples of recidivists
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
Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for recidivists
Noun
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Changes in the law regarding youth offenders and subsequent court rulings led a San Diego Superior Court judge on Tuesday to find that Williams fit the criteria to be resentenced.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Jan. 2026
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Tierney blasted the parole system's handling of repeat violent offenders.—
Carolyn Gusoff,
CBS News,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The first thing to do is to reduce the damage to the United States, the inflow of guns and criminals and immigrants and drugs into the United States, the destabilizing of a key part of the Western Hemisphere.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
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Also, place freezes with ChexSystems and the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange to stop criminals from opening bank accounts, phone lines, or utility services in his name.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The world of city courts was upended in late December, when the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that municipalities cannot impose harsher punishments on lawbreakers than state statute would allow for the same offense.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
16 Jan. 2026
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As politicians in both parties warned that lawbreakers in the crowd would pay, Webster suppressed a pang of fear.—
Jamie Thompson,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Recidivists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recidivists. Accessed 23 Jan. 2026.
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