Tra từ criminal - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

crim·inal [criminal criminals] adjective, noun BrE [ˈkrɪmɪnl] NAmE [ˈkrɪmɪnl]
adjective
1. usually before noun (rather formal or law)connected with or involving crime
•criminal offences/behaviour
•criminal damage (= the crime of damaging sb's property deliberately)
•criminal negligence (= the illegal act of sb failing to do sth that they should do, with the result that sb else is harmed)
2. only before noun connected to the laws that deal with crime
•criminal law
•the criminal justice system
•a criminal lawyer
•to bring criminal charges against sb
compare ↑civil
3. morally wrong
•This is a criminal waste of resources.

Word Origin:
late Middle English (as an adjective): from late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen ‘judgement, offence’, crimin-, based on cernere ‘to judge’.

Example Bank:
•It should be a criminal offence to inflict cruelty on any wild animal.
•She has been cleared of criminal negligence.
•They were charged with criminal damage.

noun
a person who commits a crime
• Society does not know how to deal with hardened criminals (= people who regularly commit crimes and are not sorry for what they do).
• (especially NAmE)a career criminal

Word Origin:
late Middle English (as an adjective): from late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen ‘judgement, offence’, crimin-, based on cernere ‘to judge’.

Thesaurus:
criminal noun C
•I was treated like a common criminal.
culprit • • delinquent • |informal crook • |formal offender • • sinner • |especially AmE, law felon •
a convicted/habitual criminal/offender/felon
catch a criminal/the culprit/a crook/an offender
convict/sentence a criminal/an offender
punish criminals/the culprits/offenders/sinners/felons
Criminal or offender? Criminal suggests that not only has sb committed a crime, but that they have a tendency to commit crimes. Offender simply means that sb has broken the law at least once. Offender is the word preferred by people whose job involves dealing with people who break the law.

Collocations:
Crime
Committing a crime
commit a crime/a murder/a violent assault/a brutal killing/an armed robbery/fraud
be involved in terrorism/a suspected arson attack/people smuggling/human trafficking
engage/participate in criminal activity/illegal practices/acts of mindless vandalism
steal sb's wallet/purse/(BrE) mobile phone/(NAmE) cell phone
rob a bank/a person/a tourist
break into/ (BrE) burgle/ (NAmE) burglarize a house/a home/an apartment
hijack a plane/ship/bus
smuggle drugs/weapons/arms/immigrants
launder drug money (through sth)
forge documents/certificates/passports
take/accept/pay sb/offer (sb) a bribe
run a phishing/an email/an Internet scam
Fighting crime
combat/fight crime/terrorism/corruption/drug trafficking
prevent/stop credit-card fraud/child abuse/software piracy
deter/stop criminals/burglars/thieves/shoplifters/vandals
reduce/tackle/crack down on knife/gun/violent/street crime; (especially BrE) antisocial behaviour
foil a bank raid/a terrorist plot
help/support/protect the victims of crime
Investigating crime
report a crime/a theft/a rape/an attack/(especially BrE) an incident to the police
witness the crime/attack/murder/incident
investigate a murder/(especially NAmE) a homicide/a burglary/a robbery/the alleged incident
conduct/launch/pursue an investigation (into…); (especially BrE) a police/murder inquiry
investigate/reopen a criminal/murder case
examine/investigate/find fingerprints at the crime scene/the scene of crime
collect/gather forensic evidence
uncover new evidence/a fraud/a scam/a plot/a conspiracy/political corruption/a cache of weapons
describe/identify a suspect/the culprit/the perpetrator/the assailant/the attacker
question/interrogate a suspect/witness
solve/crack the case
more collocations at ↑justice

Example Bank:
•He has been associating with known criminals.
•He was tried as a war criminal.
•I told him to pass the information to the police so they could catch the criminals.
•She was treated like a common criminal.
•Sending these youngsters to prison simply trains them to become professional criminals.
•Society does not know how to deal with hardened criminals.
•career criminals