offenderof‧fend‧er /əˈfendə $ -ər/ ●●○ noun [countable] 
Community punishment is used for less serious offenders. At 16, Scott was already a persistent offender (=someone who has been caught several times for committing crimes). → first offender, sex offender, young offender2someone or something that is the cause of something bad: Among causes of air pollution, car exhaust fumes may be the worst offender.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Among the causes of heart disease, smoking and high-fat foods are the worst offenders.
- drug offenders
- The committee will investigate more effective ways of dealing with young offenders.
- The courts should impose tougher punishments on offenders.
- And persistent offenders face losing their licence.
- First-time offenders will get a written warning.
- If so the alleged offender may be held in custody to await trial.
- Neoclassicism allowed that some offenders were less guilty than others because they were less responsible.
- Putting young offenders into a prison or other custodial establishment does not deter them from offending.
- Sentence: three years' detention in a young offender institution.
- The boy was imprisoned in the Northern Territory, which has the heaviest penalties for first-time property theft offenders.
- Wearing a body recorder and transmitter, he engaged in several conversations with the offenders in which they incriminated themselves.
THESAURUS
someone who is involved in illegal activities or has been proved guilty of a crime. Criminal is used especially about someone who often does things that are illegal: · Criminals are stealing people's credit card details off the Internet.· He is one of the most wanted criminals in the United States.
someone who breaks the law: · The courts should impose tougher punishments on offenders.· a special prison for young offenders
informal a dishonest person, especially one who steals money and who you cannot trust: · Some politicians are crooks, but not all of them.· They're just a bunch of crooks.
law especially American English someone who has committed a serious crime: · Convicted felons should not be allowed to profit from their crimes.
the person who has done something wrong or illegal: · The culprits were never found.· If I ever catch the culprit, he or she is in big trouble.· The culprits were just six years old.
a young person who behaves badly and is likely to commit crimes – used especially in the phrase juvenile delinquent: · He later worked with juvenile delinquents in a Florida youth services program.
someone who helps a criminal to do something illegal: · Police believe the murderer must have had an accomplice.
different types of criminal someone who steals things: · Car thieves have been working in the area.· The thieves stole over £5,000 worth of jewellery.
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· They were the most successful bank robbers in US history.
someone who goes into people’s homes in order to steal: · The burglars broke in through a window.
someone who takes things from shops without paying for them: · The cameras have helped the store catch several shoplifters.
someone who steals things from people’s pockets, especially in a crowd: · A sign warned that pickpockets were active in the station.
someone who deceives people in order to get money or things: · Conmen tricked the woman into giving them her savings, as an ‘investment’.
someone who illegally copies official documents, money, artworks etc: · a forger who fooled museum curators
someone who illegally copies money, official documents, or goods: · Counterfeiters in Colombia are printing almost perfect dollar bills.
someone who illegally copies and sells another person’s work: · DVD pirates
someone who attacks and robs people in public places: · Muggers took his money and mobile phone.
someone who deliberately kills someone else: · His murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment.· the murderer of civil rights activist Medgar Evers· He is a mass murderer (=someone who kills a large number of people).
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.
someone who forces someone else to have sex: · Some rapists drug their victims so that they become unconscious.
someone who is guilty of a crime related to sex: · Too many sex offenders are released from prison early.
someone who deliberately damages public property: · Vandals broke most of the school’s windows.
someone who deliberately sets fire to a building: · The warehouse fire may have been the work of an arsonist.
Longman Language Activatorsomeone who is guilty of a crime someone who is guilty of a serious crime or of several crimes: · Grimes is considered to be one of the most dangerous criminals in the US.· Sending children to adult prisons just means they learn to be 'better' criminals from the adult inmates.common criminal (=not someone who commits crimes for political reasons or because of their principles): · The British government maintains that Donavan is a common criminal who should be brought to justice.
someone who has broken the law and is punished for doing this: · The courts should impose tougher punishments on offenders.young offenderBritish /juvenile offender American (=under 18 years old): · The committee will investigate more effective ways of dealing with young offenders.
someone, especially a young person, who is guilty of criminal behaviour such as fighting or destroying things: · He blames most of the town's problems on local delinquents.juvenile delinquent (=one who is still a child): · More than half of all juvenile delinquents currently in state institutions have disturbed family backgrounds.
someone who does something illegal - used especially in newspapers or on television: · The penalties must be severe enough to deter lawbreakers.· Police say lawbreakers are encouraged by the slowness of the judicial system.
someone who is guilty of a serious crime - used especially in the legal system in the US: · Oakdale Prison holds over 600 dangerous felons.· Stevens said his plan would keep guns out of felons' hands.
someone who is wanted is being looked for by the police because they are thought to be guilty of a crime: wanted for: · Richards is wanted for the murder of a security guard at the City Bank in December of last year.most wanted man/criminal/fugitive etc: · The mass murderer known as the "Yorkshire Ripper" was for a long time the most wanted man in Britain.
WORD SETSabet, verbaccusation, nounaccuse, verbaffray, nounarson, nounassault, nounassault and battery, nounbackhander, nounbattery, nounbigamy, nounblack market, nounblack marketeer, nounbreak-in, nounbreaking and entering, nouncaper, nouncapital, adjectivecarjacking, nouncat burglar, nouncontract, nouncosh, nouncounterfeit, adjectivecounterfeit, verbcover, nouncrack, verbcriminal, adjectivecriminal, nouncriminal law, nouncriminal record, nouncriminology, nouncrook, nounculpable, adjectiveculprit, noundefamation, noundefraud, verbdelinquency, noundelinquent, adjectivedelinquent, noundesperado, noundisorderly, adjectivedrug baron, noundrug runner, nounDUI, nounembezzle, verbexpropriate, verbextort, verbeyewitness, nounfelon, nounfelony, nounfence, nounfiddle, nounfiddle, verbfiddler, nounfilch, verbfinger, verbfire-raising, nounfirst offender, nounflash, verbflasher, nounforge, verbforger, nounforgery, nounfoul play, nounframe, verbframe-up, nounfratricide, nounfraud, nounfreebooter, noungang, noungang-bang, noungang rape, noungangster, nounGBH, noungenocide, noungetaway, noungodfather, noungrand larceny, noungrass, noungrievous bodily harm, nounheist, nounhijack, verbhijack, nounhijacking, nounhit, nounhit-and-run, adjectivehit man, nounincriminate, verbindecent assault, nounindecent exposure, nouninfanticide, nounjob, nounjoyriding, nounjuvenile delinquent, nounkidnap, verblarceny, nounlibel, nounlibel, verblibellous, adjectivelow life, nounmafioso, nounmalpractice, nounmanslaughter, nounmassacre, nounmassacre, verbmatricide, nounmisappropriate, verbmisconduct, nounmisdeed, nounmisdemeanour, nounmobster, nounmoll, nounmug, verbmugshot, nounmurder, nounmurder, verbmurderer, nounmurderess, nounmuscleman, nounnark, nounnefarious, adjectiveneighbourhood watch, nounnick, verbno-go area, nounoffence, nounoffend, verboffender, nounold lag, nounorganized crime, nounoutlaw, nounparricide, nounpatricide, nounpetty larceny, nounPhotofit, nounpiracy, nounplant, verbpoach, verbpoacher, nounpossession, nounprivateer, nounprotection, nounprowl, verbprowler, nounpublic nuisance, nounpull, verbpunk, nounpurloin, verbraid, nounram-raiding, nounrape, verbrape, nounrapist, nounravish, verbreceiver, nounreceiving, nounrecidivist, nounregicide, nounring, nounringleader, nounriotous, adjectiverob, verbrobber, nounrobbery, nounroll, verbrustler, nounscheme, nounscheme, verbshady, adjectiveshoplift, verbshoplifting, nounslander, nounsmuggle, verbsnout, nounspeeding, nounstabbing, nounstalking, nounstatutory offence, nounstatutory rape, nounsteal, verbstoolpigeon, nounsupergrass, nounsuspect, nounswag, nountheft, nounthief, nounthievish, adjectivetorch, verbtraffic, nountrafficker, nountriad, noununder-the-counter, adjectiveunderworld, nounundesirable, nounvagrancy, nounvandal, nounvandalism, nounvandalize, verbvice, nounvigilante, nounvillainy, nounviolate, verbviolation, nounwanted, adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY At 16, Scott was already a persistent offender (=someone who has been caught several times for committing crimes). Among causes of air pollution, car exhaust fumes may be the worst offender.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Persistent offenders (=people who often break the law) face a prison sentence.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
At 16, Scott was already a persistent offender (=someone who has been caught several times for committing crimes). Among causes of air pollution, car exhaust fumes may be the worst offender. Persistent offenders (=people who often break the law) face a prison sentence.· Beyond all these institutional complexities lies the prison, the probation service and mechanisms for dealing with the convicted offender.· New closed prisons were built for convicted offenders serving long fixed sentences or life imprisonment for the most serious crimes.
· With regard to crimes that are known about, the police and courts may be more lenient with female offenders.· At a deeper level, however, the concept of the mentally abnormal female offender has come under scrutiny.· The female offender is characteristically older than her male counterpart.· The principal method of investigation is the analysis of interviews with female offenders.· Only a very small proportion of female offenders are given a custodial sentence in Britain.
· And patients are the worst offenders.· Uneaten food and other dead organic materials left in the tank are the worst offenders in pollution of the water.· In my experience, those long conditioned by Centralism are the worst offenders.· One of the worst offenders, the Polam lighting factory at Rzeszow, has already been shut down.· In this connection some scientists are by far the worst offenders.· The worst offenders are the disinfectants and pesticides.· The crack cocaine epidemic has passed, and some of the worst offenders are imprisoned, mellowed or dead.
· The emphasis is still upon the individual offender, not the crime.
· There are short rehabilitation periods for juvenile offenders and persons subject to court orders or disqualifications.· Massachusetts closed its traditional, prison-like juvenile corrections institutions and moved its juvenile offenders into small, community-based group homes.· In Leicester youth court, the influx of 17-year-olds has doubled the number of juvenile offenders coming before magistrates.· Probation officers and those who treat juvenile offenders within the community say violence is an ongoing problem in the three lockups.· The execution of juvenile offenders is extremely rare and at least 72 countries set 18 as the minimum age for the death penalty.
· What might be acceptable would be to sample known previous offenders.· Voice over A register of known offenders would narrow the field.· The majority of known car crime offenders are males aged 15 to 16.· This involved taking apart any statements made by known offenders and seeing if they could pinpoint a flaw somewhere along the line.
· Good referees are quick to pick up on this and impose penalties for persistent offenders.· I must ask my right hon. Friend to wait for an answer to his question about persistent offenders.· He said one of his main concerns was the problem of persistent offenders.· But the Government accepts that for persistent offenders some kind of youth detention must also be available to the courts.· Male speaker I think the company should take action against the persistent offenders, not penalise everybody.· The authority has warned that it will not hesitate to prosecute persistent offenders.
· They are convicted of physical harm or damage infrequently and they are in general petty and trivial offenders.
· Changes in the parole system were promised so that serious offenders would serve a longer proportion of their time in jail.· Should we deny all hope to less serious offenders?· The probation service and voluntary agencies were to be funded to provide an alternative form of punishment for the less serious offender.· This duly transpires, but only for the more serious offenders.
· He'd heard about the jail's reputation for handling violent and dangerous offenders.· The Chronicle examined in detail 27 cases in Houston and Harris County involving violent or repeat offenders on dual supervision.· Let's reduce the violent drug offenders in jail...· He said the law should specifically target violent offenders, rather than drug-related offenses and less serious crimes.· It was said that Wandsworth and Brixton gaols were relieved of their less violent offenders to join this service.
· Read in studio A senior police officer has criticised the way the criminal justice system handles young offenders.· Sentence: three years' detention in a young offender institution.· And not up to standard.Security criticised at young offenders jail.· There are at present opportunities to undertake agricultural and horticultural work in the open air at 23 young offender institutions.· They say the centre, to be based at a former young offenders institution, will treat refugees as criminals.· Putting young offenders into a prison or other custodial establishment does not deter them from offending.
· Rush and others said early intervention to keep kids out of gangs is just as important as locking up youthful offenders.
NOUN· Let's reduce the violent drug offenders in jail...· Of those held in federal rather than state prisons, 60 % are drug offenders with no history of violence.· The Government has unveiled a national agency to coordinate the rehabilitation and regulation of drug offenders.· Many of these people are non-violent drug offenders.
· Sentence: three years' detention in a young offender institution.· So far, he's had his licence endorsed and spent 28 days in a young offenders institution.· There are at present opportunities to undertake agricultural and horticultural work in the open air at 23 young offender institutions.· The correct sentence would have been nine months' detention in a young offender institution, and that sentence would be substituted.· They say the centre, to be based at a former young offenders institution, will treat refugees as criminals.· Judge Angus Macdonald sentenced Diaz to 18 months in a young offenders institution and Walker to 12 months.· Those in young offender institutions are occupied satisfactorily, to a certain extent, in open air work.
· We want a minimum one-year custodial sentence-longer for repeat offenders and organised gangs.· For repeat offenders, the division can require the company to pay for prevention training for its employees.· The paper puts forward a total revamp of the points system, as well as tougher sentences for repeat offenders.· Check our Campaign section regularly for repeat offenders.· His calls for tougher sentences for repeat offenders and swift deportation of illegal immigrants score well in opinion polls.· And, as the site owner, the chat room software should let you bar people who are repeat offenders.
VERB· The policy shift was triggered by a sharp increase in violent crimes committed by young offenders during the late 1980s.· A misdemeanour has been committed but the offender has not been caught.· Instead, we commit these and other offenders to varying terms of imprisonment.
· That would put a lighter burden on the prosecution, and improve the chances of convicting an offender.
· My Department is providing £200,000 this financial year to motor projects dealing with young offenders, thereby keeping them out of custody.· Beyond all these institutional complexities lies the prison, the probation service and mechanisms for dealing with the convicted offender.· Eachuinn Odhar would deal with any offender.· He heads the Justice Juvenile team in Gloucestershire dealing with young offenders.· To cope with the massive increase in prosecutions, the paper even suggests revisions to the legal system to deal with offenders.· Women and the penal system Prison is still central to our system for dealing with offenders.· Action to deal with offenders was to be taken on a voluntary rather than a court basis where possible.· It is organizationally impractical because of the lack of capacity and resource in the police to deal with the resulting offenders.
· The authority has warned that it will not hesitate to prosecute persistent offenders.· They commit themselves to inquire into all alleged cases of torture and to prosecute offenders.· The Civil Rights Division prosecuted the offender after he sought to intimidate the victim by burning a cross near his home.
· Tony Marlow says Britain has become too civilised and doesn't punish offenders properly.· The Act aimed to boost the fairness of fines, and introduced means-related unit fines as a way of punishing young offenders.
· Step forward Kenneth Clarke, with plans to empower courts to send offenders to new secure training centres.· Officials sent offenders to the penalty box left and right.· Hayman, a first offender, was sent to a young offenders institution for three years.
· How can we ever hope to make the sport clean when we treat offenders so leniently?· Probation officers and those who treat juvenile offenders within the community say violence is an ongoing problem in the three lockups.
WORD FAMILYnounoffense/offenseoffenderoffensiveoffensivenessadjectiveoffensive ≠ inoffensiveoffendedoffendingverboffendadverboffensively
1someone who is guilty of a crime: Community punishment is used for less serious offenders. At 16, Scott was already a persistent offender (=someone who has been caught several times for committing crimes). → first offender, sex offender, young offender2someone or something that is the cause of something bad: Among causes of air pollution, car exhaust fumes may be the worst offender.