criminal

Universal Words adjective, noun adjective 1 [usuallybeforenoun] 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 [onlybeforenoun] connected to the laws that deal with crime: criminal law * the criminal justice system * a criminal lawyer * to bring criminal charges against sb compareCIVIL 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 AmE) a career criminal