victim

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A person who is hurt, killed or robbed because of a crime, accident, disaster or illness.

   Grammar: Usually followed by 'of': a victim of burglary; the plural is 'victims'.

   Patterns

   • a victim of something
   • fall victim to something

   Police asked the victim to describe what happened that night.

   Flood victims were moved to a nearby school.

   The charity supports victims of domestic abuse.

2. 2nouncountable

   A person who is cheated, treated unfairly or harmed by an unpleasant situation or by someone's bad behavior.

   Grammar: Often figurative, sometimes with 'become' or 'fall': he fell victim to a scam.

   Patterns

   • fall victim to something
   • become a victim of something

   My aunt was the victim of an online fraud.

   Small shops are often the first victims of rising rents.

   He refused to see himself as a victim of circumstance.

3. 3nouncountablereligion

   A living creature or object offered or killed in a religious ritual.

   Grammar: Historic or religious usage; 'sacrificial victim' is the usual phrase.

   Patterns

   • a sacrificial victim

   The priest led the victim to the altar.

   Ancient texts describe a lamb as the victim of the festival.

   In the myth, the king chose his own son as the victim.

Word forms

Common combinations

fall victim to

Many tourists fall victim to pickpockets here.

crime victim

Each crime victim received a letter from the court.

victim support

The town offers free victim support.

innocent victim

The explosion left several innocent victims.

victim of circumstance

He felt like a victim of circumstance.

claim a victim

The storm claimed its first victim on Monday.

Synonyms and how they differ

casualty

Casualty means someone killed or injured in war or an accident and can also describe a loss, such as a casualty of the economy.

sufferer

Sufferer names someone who has an illness or hardship, not someone harmed by another person.

target

A target is chosen to be attacked, while a victim is the one who ends up harmed.

prey

Prey is stronger and suggests being hunted by a predator, whether an animal or a scammer.

Opposites

Word family

victimize verb

to treat someone unfairly or cause them to suffer

victimization noun

the act of being treated unfairly or harmed

victimhood noun

the state of being a victim

victimless adjective

harming no one

Commonly confused: victim or victor?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “victim”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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