n. & adj. --n. a person who has committed a crime or crimes. --adj. 1 of, involving, or concerning crime (criminal records). 2 having committed (and usu. been convicted of) a crime. 3 Law relating to or expert in criminal law rather than civil or political matters (criminal code; criminal lawyer). 4 colloq. scandalous, deplorable. Phrases and idioms criminal law law concerned with punishment of offenders (opp. civil law). criminal libel see LIBEL. Derivatives criminality n. criminally adv. Etymology: ME f. LL criminalis (as CRIME) ...
Толковый словарь английского языка Oxford English Reference
I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French ~, from Late Latin ~is, from Latin crimin-, crimen crime Date: 15th century 1. relating to, involving, or being a crime ~ neglect 2. relating to crime or to the prosecution of suspects in a crime ~ statistics brought ~ action 3. guilty of crime; also of or befitting a ~ a ~ mind 4. disgraceful • ~ly adverb II. noun Date: circa 1626 1. one who has committed a crime 2. a person who has been convicted of a crime CRIMINALIST noun Date: 1951 a specialist in ~ics ...
(criminals) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A criminal is a person who regularly commits crimes. A group of gunmen attacked a prison and set free nine criminals in Moroto. N-COUNT 2. Criminal means connected with crime. Her husband faces various criminal charges... ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. If you describe an action as criminal, you think it is very wrong or a serious mistake. He said a full-scale dispute involving strikes would be criminal. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ c darkgreen]disapproval ...
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
~1 adj 1 related to or connected with crime (criminal behaviour | The boy had shown criminal tendencies since early adolescence. | a criminal offence (=a crime that can be punished by law) | criminal element (=people within a particular group who are known to be involved in crime)) (Ray got mixed up with the local criminal element. | criminal negligence (=the illegal act of not doing something you should do, with the result that someone is hurt) | criminal damage (=the illegal act of damaging someone else's property)) 2 no comparative related to the part of the legal system that is concerned with crime (criminal court | criminal case | criminal attorney | criminal charges (=official statements saying that someone has done something illegal)) (Wharton faces criminal charges and will be tried in May.) (- compare civil (3)) 3 wrong, dishonest, and unacceptable (There was a criminal lack of foresight in the planning of this venture.) - criminally adv ~2 n someone who is involved in illegal activities or has been proved guilty of a crime (The man is a criminal. How could the people elect him to office? | hardened criminal (=someone who has been involved in crime for a long time)) (Teenagers should not be sent to prison with hardened criminals.) ...