offender

American  

[uh-fen-der] / əˈfɛn dər /

noun

1. someone who has violated a criminal, religious, or moral law.

   The program aids individuals already in the criminal justice system and is geared toward nonviolent offenders.

2. a person or thing that irritates, annoys, or angers.

   Some of us tried to take matters into our own hands by confronting the noise pollution offenders, but they were entirely unwilling to quiet down.

3. something that is disagreeable.

   If you’re curious about the odor, I’m afraid you’ll find that the offender is a catbox that has not been emptied recently.

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Other Word Forms

• nonoffender noun

Etymology

Origin of offender

offend ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

He said initially the priority would be returning "those who no longer have a valid residence rights", especially criminal offenders.

From BBC

Investigators will "explicitly" consider the backgrounds of offenders, including their ethnicity and religion, Mahmood said, and "whether the authorities failed to properly investigate what happened out of a misplaced desire to protect community cohesion".

From BBC

A spokesperson for the Prison and Probation Service said: "As this case shows, we do not hesitate to send offenders back to prison if they break the rules."

From BBC

"The mining sector is such a robust and sensitive sector -- it can't be governed through press statements," he told AFP, calling for legislation to include mandatory minimum sentences for convicted offenders.

From Barron's

The music industry uses a service that flags repeat offenders and sends notices to that user’s internet service provider.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• convict
• criminal
• culprit
• delinquent
• felon
• lawbreaker
• suspect