Vocabulary: Crime & Criminals

In English, there are a lot of specific words for different types of crimes and the criminals who commit them. Unfortunately, the list of crimes and criminals is long! Because the words have specific legal meanings, only a short, basic definition is given below. You may wish to print out the list, and write the correct translation of the words in your own language.

CRIME	DEFINITION	CRIMINAL
abduction	taking someone away by force, demanding money for their safe return
arson	setting fire to a building, cars or property on purpose	arsonist
assassination	killing a famous person or public figure	assassin
assault	attacking someone physically	assailant
bigamy	marrying someone when you are already married to another person	bigamist
blackmail	threatening to reveal someone’s secrets if a lot of money is not paid	blackmailer*
bombing	detonating an explosive device with the plan of harming people or property	bomber
bribery	giving money or granting favors to influence another person’s decisions or behavior	briber*
burglary	breaking into a house in order to steal something	burglar
child abuse	treating a child badly in a physical, emotional, or sexual way	child abuser
corruption	behaving illegally and dishonestly; especially those in power
crime	doing something illegal that can be punished by law	criminal
cybercrime	doing something illegal over the Internet or a computer system	cyber criminal hacker**
domestic violence	behaving violently inside the home
drunk driving	driving with too much alcohol in your blood	drunk driver
embezzlement	stealing large amounts of money that you are responsible for, often over a period of time	embezzler
espionage	spying, to obtain political or military information	spy
forgery	illegally copying documents, money, etc. to cheat people	forger
fraud	getting money from people by cheating them	con artist fraud
genocide	killing on purpose a large number of people, especially from a particular group or area
hijacking	taking control of a plane, train etc by force, often to meet political demands	hijacker
hit and run	not stopping to help a person hurt in an accident caused by you
homicide	killing another person on purpose
hooliganism	being violent or aggressive on purpose; often used to describe youth	hooligan
identity theft	using someone else’s personal information for one’s own gain
kidnapping	taking someone away by force, often demanding money for their safe return	kidnapper
libel	damaging someone’s reputation by writing lies about them
looting	taking things illegally and by force, during a riot, war, etc.	looter
lynching	killing someone without legal process, often by hanging, often by an angry mob
manslaughter	killing someone by accident
mugging	attacking someone with a plan to rob them	mugger
murder	killing someone on purpose	murderer
perjury	lying in court, while under oath
pickpocketing	stealing wallets, money, etc. from people’s pockets in crowded places	pickpocketer
pilfering	stealing small quantities of goods over time
poaching	hunting illegally	poacher
rape	forcing someone to have sex	rapist
riot	causing a noisy, violent public disturbance	rioter
robbery	stealing large amounts of money with force or violence from a bank, store, etc.	robber
shoplifting	stealing something from a store	shoplifter
slander	damaging someone’s reputation by speaking lies about them
smuggling	taking things secretly in or out of a place, country, jail, etc.	smuggler
speeding	driving above the speed limit
terrorism	using violence, threats, or fear, usually for political purposes	terrorist
theft	stealing, in general	thief
trafficking	trading something illegal like drugs, people, etc.
treason	betraying one’s country by helping its enemies	traitor
trespassing	entering another person’s area; hurting people/damaging property through force	trespasser
vandalism	destroying private or public property purposely	vandal
voyeurism	secretly watching naked people or sexual acts & getting sexually excited	voyeur

* uncommon

** hacker does not technically mean a cyber criminal, but the word is often used to describe those who commit computer crimes.

Listen to these words and their explanations in context in this lesson:

Vocabulary: Crime & Criminals

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