Meaning & use
petty criminal
Last updated
UK/ˌpeti ˈkrɪmɪnəl/
US/ˌpeti ˈkrɪmɪnəl/
Usage warning: this word is disapproving. It shows a negative opinion, so take care with who and what you use it about.
Meaning
nouncountabledisapproving
A person who commits minor crimes, such as small thefts or vandalism, rather than serious or violent offenses.
Grammar: Countable: a petty criminal, many petty criminals.
Patterns
- a petty criminal with a record
- treat someone as a petty criminal
The man was a petty criminal who had stolen from parked cars.
Police described the suspect as a petty criminal, not a dangerous one.
The town's petty criminals mostly pickpocket tourists.
Word forms
| plural | petty criminals |
|---|
Common combinations
- small-time petty criminal
- He was a small-time petty criminal who never planned anything big.
- known petty criminal
- A known petty criminal was seen near the shop.
- treated like a petty criminal
- She felt treated like a petty criminal at security.
- convicted petty criminal
- A convicted petty criminal took the stand.
- career petty criminal
- A career petty criminal, he moved between short sentences.
Synonyms and how they differ
- small-time crook
- Small-time crook is informal and slightly dismissive, while petty criminal is neutral enough for news.
- thief
- A thief specifically steals, while a petty criminal may commit other minor crimes.
- delinquent
- Delinquent mostly refers to young offenders, not adults.
- offender
- Offender is a broad legal word and does not suggest the crime was minor.
Opposites
hardened criminalmastermind
Word family
- petty adjective
- small and unimportant
- criminal noun
- a person who commits crimes
- petty crime noun
- a minor offense
- criminality noun
- criminal behavior
Practice
The investigator said the suspect was just a ______, known only for stealing bicycles.
Choose one answer.
Minor theft points to a petty criminal. A master criminal would be a planner of large crimes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “petty criminal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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