recidivist
- noun
- /ˌrɛsɪˈdɪvɪst/
- The judge labeled him a recidivist after he committed several thefts despite previous sentences.
- recidivist offender
- recidivist criminal
Examples
-
A behavioral, highly recidivist pattern of women's offending was repeated throughout Australia, Western Europe, and the United States during the period.
Academic text (1993) -
When the academic functioning of youth classified as recidivists and nonrecidivists was compared, nonrecidivists were found to be functioning at significantly higher levels.
Academic text (2001) -
The actual number of individual women imprisoned was much lower, as over 70% of the female inmate population was recidivist.
Academic text (1993) -
Significant correlations have been noted between an increase in serious, recidivist criminal activity in early adulthood and earlier reports of being a bully.
Academic text (2011) -
So too were civil prisoners separated from criminals and first offenders from recidivists.
Academic text (2005) -
As O'Brien argues, recidivists were "wise in prison ways; they knew most about power and survival in the institution."
Academic text (1993) -
Third, initial data have suggested that the intellectual and academic functioning levels of nonrecidivists are significantly higher than those of recidivists.
Academic text (2001) -
Thus, across all three SMS schools, 11% of the SMS participants were recidivists compared to 27% for the suspension group.
Academic text (2004) -
Between 1880 and 1920, recidivists accounted for more than 70% of the female prisoner population, compared with one-third to one-half of the male.
Academic text (1993) -
Physical bullies are at greater risk than their peers for criminal conviction and recidivist crime (Kumpulainen & Räsänen, 2000).
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
A person who often goes to prison for crimes
A person who often commits the same kind of crime and is arrested many times
Antonyms
How Habitual
Surface Forms
Morphology
recidivist = recidivism (opaque) = re + recidiv + ist
While the segments 're-' and '-ist' are individually recognizable, the central stem 'recidiv' is a Latin combining form not familiar as an independent English morpheme, so learners cannot reliably derive 'repeat offender' from the parts.
Etymology
Recidivist comes from Latin parts re- 'again' and cadere 'to fall', so it originally meant 'to fall back'. Think of someone who keeps 'falling back' into crime, which is why a recidivist is a person who repeats crimes or bad behaviour after being punished.