recidivist
noun
re·cid·i·vist ri-ˈsi-də-vist 
: one who relapses
specifically : a habitual criminal
recidivist adjective
recidivistic
ri-ˌsi-də-ˈvi-stik
adjective 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In 2020 Purdue Pharma pled guilty again in court, this time to three felonies, thus becoming a recidivist offender. 
Ed Bisch, STAT, 18 July 2022 As a recidivist the penalty likely would be more severe. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 23 June 2022 Being cast out by society is all that Hans — a recidivist if ever there was one — seems to have known. Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2022 In the 1980s, Goodmark said research came out that said arrest was likely to decrease recidivist violence. Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY, 23 Oct. 2021 Prosecutors say the images included clear depictions of child pornography and bestiality and show that Nader is a lifelong recidivist. Washington Post, 26 June 2020 While none of them is a BoJack-level recidivist, the friends who’ve helped to prop him up over the years have self-sabotaging patterns of their own. Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2020 Forgiveness for recidivists is found outside show business, too. The Economist, 5 Dec. 2019 The problem for Schiff, a former prosecutor, was that Trump was an unrepentant recidivist, a President who was going to keep abusing his office as long as he was allowed to do so. Robert P. Baird, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2019 See More
Ed Bisch, STAT, 18 July 2022 As a recidivist the penalty likely would be more severe. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 23 June 2022 Being cast out by society is all that Hans — a recidivist if ever there was one — seems to have known. Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2022 In the 1980s, Goodmark said research came out that said arrest was likely to decrease recidivist violence. Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY, 23 Oct. 2021 Prosecutors say the images included clear depictions of child pornography and bestiality and show that Nader is a lifelong recidivist. Washington Post, 26 June 2020 While none of them is a BoJack-level recidivist, the friends who’ve helped to prop him up over the years have self-sabotaging patterns of their own. Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2020 Forgiveness for recidivists is found outside show business, too. The Economist, 5 Dec. 2019 The problem for Schiff, a former prosecutor, was that Trump was an unrepentant recidivist, a President who was going to keep abusing his office as long as he was allowed to do so. Robert P. Baird, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
borrowed from French récidiviste, from récidiver "to reappear (of a disease, tumor, etc.), do over, commit a second criminal offense" (going back to Middle French, borrowed from Medieval Latin recidīvāre "to relapse into sin or crime") + -iste -ist entry 1 — more at recidivate
First Known Use
1867, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
recidivist
noun
re·cid·i·vist -vəst
: one who relapses into a previous behavior or condition
especially : a habitual criminal
Legal Definition
recidivist
noun
re·cid·i·vist ri-ˈsi-də-vist
: an habitual criminal
recidivist
noun
as in criminal
formal a person who continues to commit crimes even after being caught and punished Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- criminal
- offender
- lawbreaker
- misdemeanant
- backslider
- jailbird
- accomplice
- convict
- principal
- culprit
- perpetrator
- outlaw
- desperado
- relapser
- sinner
- perp
- transgressor
- hooligan
- thug
- hoodlum
- trespasser
- miscreant
- crook
- wrongdoer
- villain
- malefactor
- gangster
- racketeer
- defendant
- mobster
- arrestee
- accused
- repeater
- fish
- suspect
- gunsel
- triggerman
- detainee
- misfeasor
- misdoer
- blackhander
- gallows bird
- evildoer
- button man
- enforcer
- gun
- hit man
- gunman
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- lawman
- gangbuster