From Middle English cryminal, borrowed from Anglo-Norman criminal, from Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen (“crime”).

• (UK, US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪm.ɪ.nəl/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪm.ə.nəl/
• Hyphenation: crim‧i‧nal

criminal (comparative more criminal, superlative most criminal)

1. Against the law; forbidden by law.

   Synonyms: crimeful, delictuous, illegal, illicit; see also Thesaurus:unlawful

   • 1711 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, March 19, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 16; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition,[…], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     Foppish and fantastic ornaments are only indications of vice, not criminal in themselves.

     The spelling has been modernized.

2. Guilty of breaking the law.

   Synonyms: at fault, culpable; see also Thesaurus:guilty

   • a. 1729, John Rogers, The Difficulties of Obtaining Salvation:

     The neglect of any of the relative duties renders us criminal in the sight of God.

3. Of or relating to crime or penal law.

   His long criminal record suggests that he is a dangerous man.

   • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II.[…], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray,[…], →OCLC:

     The officers and servants of the crown, violating the personal liberty, or other right of the subject […] in some cases, were liable to criminal process.

4. (figuratively) Abhorrent or very undesirable.

   Synonyms: detestable, repugnant

   Printing such asinine opinions is criminal!

   • 2020 May 6, Graeme Pickering, “Borders Railway: time for the next step”, in Rail, page 54:

     [...] I think it represents exceptional value for money and I think it would be criminal not to go ahead and build it."

criminal (plural criminals)

1. A person who is guilty of a crime, notably breaking the law.

   Synonyms: lawbreaker, offender, perpetrator

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     ‘[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’

• See also Thesaurus:criminal

• person

Borrowed from Latin criminālis.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [kɾi.miˈnal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

criminal m or f (masculine and feminine plural criminals)

1. criminal (against the law)
2. criminal (guilty of breaking the law)
3. criminal (of or relating to crime)

criminal m or f by sense (plural criminals)

1. criminal (a person who is guilty of a crime)

• crim

• “criminal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “criminal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “criminal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “criminal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Late Latin or Juridical Latin criminālis (“criminal”), from Latin crīmen (“verdict; crime”).

• IPA^(key): /kɾimiˈnal/ [kɾi.mĩˈnɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: cri‧mi‧nal

criminal m or f (plural criminais)

1. criminal (that constitutes a crime)

   Synonym: criminoso

2. criminal (relating or pertaining to crimes)

   Synonym: criminoso

3. (colloquial) that can be very bad in its class or that can be harmful

criminal m or f by sense (plural criminais)

1. criminal (a person who has committed a crime)

   Synonym: asasino

• “criminal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “criminal”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

• criminau (Gascony, Provençal)

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

criminal m (feminine singular criminala, masculine plural criminals, feminine plural criminalas) (Languedoc)

1. criminal

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎^[1], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2025, page 206

Borrowed from Late Latin or Juridical Latin criminālis, from Latin crīmen.

criminal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular criminale)

1. criminal; illegal; against the law

• French: criminel
  • → Danish: kriminel
  • → Romanian: criminal
  • → Swedish: kriminell
  • → Turkish: kriminel
• → Middle English: cryminal, cremynall, criminall, crimynal, crymynall
  • English: criminal
  • Scots: creeminal

Borrowed from Late Latin or Juridical Latin criminālis (“criminal”), from Latin crīmen (“verdict; crime”).

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: cri‧mi‧nal

criminal m or f (plural criminais, not comparable)

1. (law) criminal (of or relating to crime or penal law)

   Antecedente criminal.

   Criminal record.

• “criminal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “criminal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• криминал (criminal) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Borrowed from French criminel, Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen.

• IPA^(key): /kri.miˈnal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: cri‧mi‧nal

criminal m (plural criminali, feminine equivalent criminală)

1. criminal, felon, perpetrator, offender, lawbreaker
2. murderer, slayer
3. cutthroat, thug

criminal m or n (feminine singular criminală, masculine plural criminali, feminine/neuter plural criminale)

1. criminal, felonious, lawbreaking
2. murderous, homicidal
3. cutthroat

• criminalitate

criminal

1. criminally

• crimă

• “criminal”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Borrowed from Late Latin or Juridical Latin criminālis (“criminal”), from Latin crīmen (“verdict; crime”).

• IPA^(key): /kɾimiˈnal/ [kɾi.miˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: cri‧mi‧nal

criminal m or f (masculine and feminine plural criminales)

1. criminal

   Synonym: criminoso

criminal m or f by sense (plural criminales)

1. criminal

   Synonyms: penado, delincuente

• “criminal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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