/ ˈkrɪmɪnl; NAmE / adjective , noun
■ adjective
1.
[ usually before noun ] 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.
■ 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.