offender

/əˈfendə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /əˈfendər/ (ame, ipa) · /əˈfendə(r)/ (ame, mw)

offender — noun

  • offendersingular
  • offendersplural

1. someone who has broken the law and is treated by the police, courts, or society

1.名詞B2
釋義

someone who has broken the law and is treated by the police, courts, or society as responsible for the crime.

例句

The judge sent the young offender to a special school instead of prison.

young offender — common collocation in juvenile justice

Police in Taipei arrested a repeat offender outside the night market.

repeat offender — collocation for someone who breaks the law again

同義詞
  • criminal

    more general; covers anyone judged guilty of a crime, used in everyday speech

  • wrongdoer

    more formal and moral in tone, including non-legal bad acts

  • culprit

    the specific person who did one particular wrong act, often used informally

  • lawbreaker

    plain English equivalent, slightly less formal than 'offender'

反義詞
  • victim

    the person harmed by the crime, the opposite role in a legal case

  • law-abiding citizen

    phrase used for someone who obeys the law

文法句型

a/an + offender

first-time/repeat/young + offender

用法筆記

Frequently appears with a modifier that classifies the crime or the criminal record: young, juvenile, first-time, repeat, persistent, sex, drug, traffic. The modifier is part of normal usage and is rarely dropped in news or legal writing.

常見錯誤

❌He is an offender of the company rules.
✅He has broken the company rules.
💡'offender' is most natural for legal crimes, not internal workplace rule-breaking.
❌She is the offender who stole my bag.
✅She is the thief who stole my bag.
💡for a specific crime, English prefers the specific noun (thief, robber, attacker); 'offender' is used in general or legal contexts.