'Recidivist' definitions:
Definition of 'recidivist'
(from WordNet)
noun
Someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior) [syn: recidivist, repeater, habitual criminal]
noun
Someone who lapses into previous undesirable patterns of behavior [syn: recidivist, backslider, reversionist]
Definition of 'Recidivist'
From: GCIDE
- Recidivist \Re*cid"i*vist\ (r[-e]*s[i^]d"[i^]*v[i^]st), n. One who is recidivous or is characterized by recidivism; an incorrigible criminal. -- {Re*cid`i*vis"tic} (r[-e]*s[i^]d`[i^]*v[i^]s"t[i^]k), a. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- The criminal by passion never becomes a recidivist, it is the social, not the antisocial, instincts that are strong within him, his crime is a solitary event in his life. --Havelock Ellis. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Synonyms of 'recidivist'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- Adamic,
- apostate,
- atavistic,
- atheist,
- atheistic,
- backslider,
- backsliding,
- bad egg,
- bad lot,
- black sheep,
- blasphemer,
- blasphemous,
- bolter,
- carnal,
- collaborationist,
- collaborator,
- convert,
- defector,
- degenerate,
- deserter,
- erring,
- fallen,
- fallen angel,
- fallen from grace,
- fifth columnist,
- fleshly,
- frail,
- impious,
- impure,
- infirm,
- irreligious,
- irreverent,
- lapsed,
- lecher,
- lost lamb,
- lost sheep,
- lost soul,
- miscreant,
- mugwump,
- of easy virtue,
- peccable,
- pervert,
- pimp,
- postlapsarian,
- prodigal,
- prodigal son,
- profanatory,
- profane,
- profligate,
- proselyte,
- quisling,
- reactionary,
- recessive,
- recidivistic,
- recidivous,
- recreant,
- regressive,
- renegade,
- renegado,
- renegate,
- repeater,
- reprobate,
- retrograde,
- retrogressive,
- retrorse,
- retroverse,
- returnable,
- returnee,
- reversible,
- reversional,
- reversionary,
- reversioner,
- reversionist,
- revertible,
- revulsionary,
- runagate,
- Sabbath-breaker,
- sacrilegious,
- sacrilegist,
- scapegrace,
- schismatic,
- seceder,
- secessionist,
- separatist,
- sorry lot,
- strikebreaker,
- tergiversant,
- tergiversator,
- traitor,
- trollop,
- turnabout,
- turncoat,
- turntail,
- two-time loser,
- unangelic,
- unbeliever,
- unchaste,
- unclean,
- undutiful,
- ungodly,
- ungood,
- unrighteous,
- unsaintly,
- unvirtuous,
- virtueless,
- wanton,
- wayward,
- weak,
- whore