noun · neutral
offender
UK/əˈfendə/US/əˈfendɚ/a·FEN·der
a person who commits a crime or breaks the law
Examples
“The police are looking for the offender who fled the scene.”
“Rehabilitation programmes aim to reduce the number of repeat offenders.”
“He is considered a dangerous offender and will be monitored after release.”
Band 8 sentence
“Effective intervention programmes for young offenders can break the cycle of crime and reduce long-term social costs.”
Collocations
- repeat offender
- dangerous offender
- young offender
Word family
Common mistakes
He is offender.→He is an offender.
They arrested an offender of theft.→They arrested an offender for theft.
Say it for a higher band
5criminal→6perpetrator→7+offender
Synonyms
perpetrator
criminal
Easily confused
criminal
“The report shows a rise in the number of criminals caught for online scams.”
perpetrator
“Witnesses described the perpetrator as a man in his thirties.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Crime & Law
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