criminous

[ krim-uh-nuhs ]

adjective

, Archaic.

1. criminal.

Word History and Origins

Origin of criminous¹

1425–75; late Middle English < Old French crimineux < Medieval Latin, Latin crīminōsus, equivalent to crīmin- (stem of crīmen; crime ) + -ōsus -ous

Example Sentences

Be sure not to miss Lord Dunsany’s criminous masterpiece, “The Two Bottles of Relish,” or Bob Shaw’s heartbreakingly beautiful science fiction masterpiece, “Light of Other Days.”

From Washington Post

Crippen and Landru, the go-to publisher for criminous short-story collections, has just brought out “Hot Cash, Cold Clews: The Adventures of Lester Leith,” which reprints some of the 1930s pulp escapades of a Raffles-like con artist imagined by the young Erle Stanley Gardner.

From Washington Post

For further criminous diversion, I spent one evening enjoying the hit film “Knives Out,” while noting the flaws in its intricate plot.

From Washington Post

Besides essays, he also writes elegantly eerie or criminous short stories, some about an occult investigator known as the Connoisseur; he’s produced the single best monograph on the mystical Welsh man of letters Arthur Machen; and he oversees the journal Wormwood: Literature of the Fantastic, Supernatural and Decadent.

From Washington Post

Hawley Harvey Crippen and Henri Désiré Landru were notorious murderers, so the euphonious juxtaposition of their names struck Douglas G. Greene as singularly apt when he was founding a press specializing in collections of criminous short stories.

From Washington Post