delinquent
23
6.6
- adjective
- /dɪˈlɪŋkwənt/
- The youth sent to TJJD are the state's most serious or chronically delinquent offenders.
- delinquent behavior
- delinquent youth
- delinquent acts
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Watch on YouTubeYou say boys are growing up with less involved fathers and are more likely to drop out of school, do drugs, become delinquent and end up in prison.
- You say boys are growing up with less involved fathers and are more likely to drop out of school, do drugs, become delinquent and end up in prison.
- Now, my friends, my delinquent friends in junior high and high school, a lot of them became Alcoholics.
- And it takes me back to my childhood where there was there was that line that I speak about where I was doing juvenile delinquent stuff, just crazy things that kids do.
Examples
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Last thing I need is to deal with the cops over some juvenile delinquent with a big vocabulary.
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Sweetheart, you're a delinquent.
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Just a juvenile delinquent at heart.
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How does it feel to be a juvenile delinquent?
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Dutch scientists found that the closer a person lives to delinquent friends, the more likely they are to engage in similar behaviors.
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By being involved in this competition, you've brought delinquent behavior into my school and put my students at risk.
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All of your children are delinquent, Mrs. Little, and one, at least, Malcolm, is a thief.
Fiction book (1992) -
However, low parental control may be the primary culprit, setting the stage for all sorts of delinquent behavior.
Academic text (2008) -
Problem children and children adjudged as delinquent often come from single-parent homes with the father absent.
Academic text (1992) -
The school counselor is worried about the number of delinquent behaviors among students in this area.
Synonyms
Acts against rules people follow and hurts or upsets others
Antonyms
Compounds
12
5.3
A young person under 18 who breaks the law, for example by stealing or damaging things
A person who does not pay money they owe to a bank or credit company on time
How Antisocial
Surface Forms
Etymology
Delinquent comes from the Latin parts de- 'away' and linquere 'leave'. That's why we call people 'delinquent' when they have 'left' their duties and break the rules.