noun / adjective · neutral
criminal
UK/ˈkrɪmɪnəl/US/ˈkrɪmənəl/CRIM·i·NAL
Band 4-5speakingtask2
a person who commits a crime; relating to crime
Examples
“A criminal was arrested near the scene.”
“He has a criminal record for theft.”
“Criminal law deals with offences against the state.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although often labelled a criminal, he later proved he had been coerced into participating.”
Collocations
- convicted criminal
- criminal record
- juvenile criminal
Word family
criminal noun / adjectivecriminality nouncriminalize verb
Common mistakes
He is a crime→He is a criminal
criminaled→convicted / arrested
Say it for a higher band
5offender→6perpetrator→7+criminal
Synonyms
offender
perpetrator
Easily confused
perpetrator
“The perpetrator escaped before the police arrived.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Crime & Law
Learn it with its set