criminal someone who is involved in illegal activities or has been proved guilty of a crime.
Criminal is used especially about someone who often does things that are illegal:
Criminals are stealing people's credit card details off the Internet. He is one of the most wanted criminals in the United States.offender someone who breaks the law:
The courts should impose tougher punishments on offenders. a special prison for young offenderscrook informal a dishonest person, especially one who steals money and who you cannot trust:
Some politicians are crooks, but not all of them. They're just a bunch of crooks.felon law especially American English someone who has committed a serious crime:
Convicted felons should not be allowed to profit from their crimes.the culprit the person who has done something wrong or illegal:
The culprits were never found. If I ever catch the culprit, he or she is in big trouble. The culprits were just six years old.delinquent a young person who behaves badly and is likely to commit crimes - used especially in the phrase
juvenile delinquent:
He later worked with juvenile delinquents in a Florida youth services program.accomplice someone who helps a criminal to do something illegal:
Police believe the murderer must have had an accomplice.thief someone who steals things:
Car thieves have been working in the area. The thieves stole over £5,000 worth of jewellery.robber someone who steals money or valuable things from a bank, shop etc – used especially when someone sees the person who is stealing:
a masked robber armed with a shotgun They were the most successful bank robbers in US history.burglar someone who goes into people’s homes in order to steal:
The burglars broke in through a window.shoplifter someone who takes things from shops without paying for them:
The cameras have helped the store catch several shoplifters.pickpocket someone who steals things from people’s pockets, especially in a crowd:
A sign warned that pickpockets were active in the station.conman/fraudster someone who deceives people in order to get money or things:
Conmen tricked the woman into giving them her savings, as an ‘investment’.forger someone who illegally copies official documents, money, artworks etc:
a forger who fooled museum curatorscounterfeiter someone who illegally copies money, official documents, or goods:
Counterfeiters in Colombia are printing almost perfect dollar bills.pirate someone who illegally copies and sells another person’s work:
DVD piratesmugger someone who attacks and robs people in public places:
Muggers took his money and mobile phone.murderer someone who deliberately kills someone else:
His murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment. the murderer of civil rights activist Medgar Evers He is a mass murderer (=someone who kills a large number of people).serial killer someone who kills several people, one after the other over a period of time, in a similar way:
Shipman was a trusted family doctor who became Britain's worst serial killer.rapist someone who forces someone else to have sex:
Some rapists drug their victims so that they become unconscious.sex offender someone who is guilty of a crime related to sex:
Too many sex offenders are released from prison early.vandal someone who deliberately damages public property:
Vandals broke most of the school’s windows.arsonist someone who deliberately sets fire to a building:
The warehouse fire may have been the work of an arsonist. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲