law-breaking
law-breaking — noun
1. the action of doing things that are forbidden by a country's rules, treated as a
the action of doing things that are forbidden by a country's rules, treated as a single category of behaviour rather than one specific crime
Jiwoo's law-breaking began with shoplifting candy from the corner store at age twelve.
possessive + law-breaking as the subject of a clause
The new mayor promised to crack down on law-breaking in the city's downtown area.
collocation: crack down on law-breaking
Sofia studied the link between childhood poverty and adult law-breaking for her thesis.
Reema's parents were shocked to learn about her years of secret law-breaking.
Petty law-breaking, like jaywalking, rarely leads to serious punishment in most countries.
- crime
more common everyday word; countable and covers individual acts
- delinquency
formal; usually about young people's minor offences
- criminality
more formal and abstract; emphasises the criminal nature itself
- lawlessness
stronger; suggests a whole area or society without effective rules
- law-abiding
adjective for the opposite behaviour; there is no exact noun antonym
文法句型
a history of law-breaking
petty law-breaking
用法筆記
Uncountable — never use 'a law-breaking' or 'law-breakings'. Often paired with adjectives describing scale or seriousness: petty, serious, persistent, widespread.