Adjacent Words

Malefactor definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MALEFAC'TOR, n. [supra.] One who commits a crime; one guilty of violating the laws, in such a manner as to subject him to public prosecution and punishment, particularly to capital punishment; a criminal.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime [syn: criminal, felon, crook, outlaw, malefactor]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English malefactour, from Latin malefactor, from malefacere to do evil, from male + facere to do — more at do Date: 15th century 1. one who commits an offense against the law; especially felon 2. one who does ill toward another

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a criminal; an evil-doer. Derivatives: malefaction n. Etymology: ME f. L f. malefacere malefact- f. male ill + facere do

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Malefactor Mal`e*fac"tor, n. [L., fr. malefacere to do evil; male ill, evil + facere to do. See Malice, and Fact.] 1. An evil doer; one who commits a crime; one subject to public prosecution and punishment; a criminal. 2. One who does wrong by injuring another, although not a criminal. [Obs.] --H. Brooke. Fuller. Syn: Evil doer; criminal; culprit; felon; convict.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(malefactors) A malefactor is someone who has done something bad or illegal. (FORMAL) ...a well-known criminal lawyer who had saved many a malefactor from going to jail. = wrongdoer N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mal-e-fak'-ter (kakopoios, "a bad doer," i.e. "evildoer," "criminal"; kakourgos, "a wrongdoer"): The former occurs in Joh 18:30 the King James Version, the latter, which is the stronger term, in Lu 23:32,39. The former describes the subject as doing or making evil, the latter as creating or originating the bad, and hence, designates the more energetic, aggressive, initiating type of criminality.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Culprit, felon, convict, criminal, outlaw, evil-doer.

Moby Thesaurus

bad person, blackguard, criminal, crook, culprit, deceiver, delinquent, evil man, evil person, evildoer, felon, gangster, knave, lawbreaker, malevolent, malfeasant, malfeasor, miscreant, misdemeanant, misdemeanist, misfeasor, mobster, offender, outlaw, public enemy, racketeer, rascal, rogue, scoundrel, sinner, thief, transgressor, villain, worker of ill, wrongdoer