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Synonyms

felony

American  
[fel-uh-nee] / ˈfɛl ə ni /

noun

Law.

plural

felonies

  1. an offense, as murder or burglary, of graver character than those called misdemeanors, especially those commonly punished in the U.S. by imprisonment for more than a year.

  2. Early English Law. any crime punishable by death or mutilation and forfeiture of lands and goods.

felony British  
/ ˈfɛlənɪ /

noun

  1. (formerly) a serious crime, such as murder or arson. All distinctions between felony and misdemeanour were abolished in England and Wales in 1967

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
felony Cultural  

  1. A grave crime, such as murder, rape, or burglary, that is punishable by death (see capital offense) or imprisonment in a state or federal facility.

Etymology

Origin of felony

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English felonie, from Anglo-French, Old French: “villainy”; equivalent to felon 1 + -y 3

Explanation

A felony is a serious crime, like murder, arson, or burglary. Fashion critics may think that wearing white shoes after Labor Day is a felony, but it isn’t really. A felony is sometimes called a "high crime" because it's so serious. A felony differs from a misdemeanor in the amount of punishment someone gets when convicted. In the United States, a felony is a crime that has a sentence of more than a year in prison. A year or less in jail means the crime is just a misdemeanor. If you're convicted of a felony, even after you serve your time you may be denied certain rights and privileges.

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Vocabulary lists containing felony

Monster

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Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A federal judge on Tuesday delayed until next week the sentencing of Purdue on three felony charges related to paying kickbacks to doctors and reckless sales of its opioids.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

Prosecutors were able to charge him with a felony by adding up the value of the thefts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, Ruben Tamrazian, 26, and Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and were sentenced on Thursday to 180 days in jail, plus two years of supervised probation.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

When prosecutors saw the video, they dumped the felony charges.

From Salon • Apr. 15, 2026

As one young man with a felony conviction explained in exasperation, “I asked for an application for Section 8. They asked me if I had a felony. I said, ‘yes.’...

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.