crime
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɹaɪm/
rhymes: -aɪm
Forms: form: crimes
Etymology: From Middle English cryme, crime, from Old French crime, crimne, from Latin crīmen. Displaced native Old English firen.
Senses: examples: text: The generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, can be duped into providing detailed advice on how to commit crimes — ranging from money laundering to the export of weapons to sanctioned countries — a tech startup found.
ref: 2024 October 23, Tricia Escobedo, “AI-generated crimes, a treasure mystery, quick thinking by bus passengers: Catch up on the day’s stories”, in CNN:
glosses: A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law.
examples: text: Those methods of saving money should be a crime.
text: No crime was thine, if 'tis no crime to love.
ref: 1687 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Ode for Musick on St. Cecilia’s Day”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], →OCLC, canto VI, page 376:
glosses: Any great sin or wickedness; iniquity.
examples: text: the tree of life, the crime of our first father's fall
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 46:
glosses: That which occasions crime.
examples: text: an effort by the police to tackle crime in the city
text: The State Department has given Ecuador $81 million since 2018 to help the country with its fight against organized crime and narcotics.
ref: 2025 March 19, Hira Humayun and Michael Rios, “Ecuador’s president invites foreign armies to fight gangs in the country”, in CNN:
synonyms: criminality
delinquency
glosses: Criminal acts collectively.
examples: text: Crime doesn’t pay.
glosses: The habit or practice of committing crimes.
Hyponyms: crime against humanity
crime against nature
crime of passion
crime tourism
criminal act
felony
hate crime
high crime
international crime
misdemeanor
misdemeanour
organised crime
organized crime
petty crime
postcrime
regulatory offence
sex crime
sexual offence
summary crime
time crime
war crime
white collar crime
Derived terms: aftercrime
anticrime
autocrime
biocrime
capital crime
consensual crime
crimance
crime-buster
crimebuster
crime buster
crimebusting
crime car
crime doesn't pay
crime fighter
crimefighter
crime-fighter
crimefighting
crime-free
crimefree
crimeful
crime index
crimeless
crimelike
crime lord
crime mapping
crime passionel
crimeproof
crime rate
crime-ridden
crimeridden
crime scene
crime science
crime scientist
crime sheet
crimestopper
crimethink
crimeware
crime wave
crimewave
crimie
criminal
criminal law
criminally
criminal record
criminological
criminologically
criminologist
criminology
crimo
crimogenic
cybercrime
decrime
decriminalisation
decriminalization
decriminalise
decriminalize
e-crime
enviro-crime
envirocrime
facecrime
hate-crime
he who said the rhyme did the crime
impediment of crime
knife crime
knifecrime
no-crime
no crime
noncrime
noncriminal
occupational crime
organizational crime
partner in crime
perfect crime
political crime
precrime
pre-crime
recriminalisation
recriminalization
recriminalise
recriminalize
stranger crime
street crime
thoughtcrime
tough on crime
true crime
uncrime
victimless crime
white-collar crime
youth crime