vice crime
1
8.1
- noun
- /vaɪs kraɪm/
- NSFW
:
delito de vicio
- The city has implemented new measures to combat vice crime and improve community safety.
Examples
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Reports indicate that vice crime often goes unreported due to the stigma surrounding the activities involved.
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The police conducted a raid on several establishments suspected of engaging in vice crime, including illegal gambling and prostitution.
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Vice crimes themselves are usually victimless, but the community has spoken and has said not here.
Blog text (19)
Synonyms
∞
1.4
An act that breaks the law and can be punished
731
6.2
A bad habit or behaviour that harms a person's character
14
3.5
An action that breaks the law and can result in punishment such as jail or fines
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a crime involving immoral or depraved conduct' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'vice' (moral weakness/immoral behavior) with 'crime' (an unlawful act), so a learner who knows both words can infer that it denotes crimes of immoral nature. This modifier-noun pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, making the phrase predictable and accessible to a B1-level learner.
Etymology
Vice crime comes from the older use of vice to mean 'immoral' or 'bad' behaviour, joined with crime for an illegal act. So vice crime refers to crimes that involve those immoral acts, like prostitution or illegal gambling.