RECIDIVIST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does recidivist mean? 

• RECIDIVIST (noun)
  The noun RECIDIVIST has 2 senses:

1. someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)

2. someone who lapses into previous undesirable patterns of behavior

  Familiarity information: RECIDIVIST used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RECIDIVIST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

habitual criminal; recidivist; repeater

Hypernyms ("recidivist" is a kind of...):

criminal; crook; felon; malefactor; outlaw (someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime)

Derivation:

recidivism (habitual relapse into crime)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who lapses into previous undesirable patterns of behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

backslider; recidivist; reversionist

Hypernyms ("recidivist" is a kind of...):

offender; wrongdoer (a person who transgresses moral or civil law)

Derivation:

recidivism (habitual relapse into crime)