ar ‧ son ‧ ist /ˈɑːs ə nəst, ˈɑːs ə nɪst $ ˈɑːr-/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
someone who commits the crime of arson
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THESAURUS
■ different types of criminal
▪ thief someone who steals things:
Car thieves have been working in the area.
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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
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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 curators
▪ counterfeiter 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 pirates
▪ mugger 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.
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the murderer of civil rights activist Medgar Evers
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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.