Standard Lemma guide

recidivism

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /rɪˈsɪdɪvɪzm̩/
  • UK, US: /ɹəˈsɪdəvəzm̩/
  • r(ĭ)-sĭ'-dĭ-vĭ-zm̩
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R AH0 S IH1 D IH0 V IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Committing new offenses after a crime committed in the past.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The increase in criminal activity was attributed to recidivism.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Chronic repetition of criminal or other antisocial behavior.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Returning to a negative behavior after having stopped it for a period of time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable

Examples

  • alcohol(ic) recidivism

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

habitual relapse into crime

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: backsliding, lapse, lapsing, relapse, relapsing, reversion, reverting

History

Etymology

From French récidivisme, from Latin recidīvus (“returning, recurring”). Compare recidivous, -ism. By surface analysis, recidive + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: عَوْد (ʕawd) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Bulgarian: рецидиви́зъм (recidivízǎm) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Catalan: recidiva — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Catalan: reincidència — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Chinese Mandarin: 累犯 (lěifàn) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Dutch: recidive — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • French: récidive — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Georgian: რეციდივიზმი (recidivizmi) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • German: Rückfall — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Italian: recidiva — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Italian: recidività — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Japanese: 再犯 (saihan) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Korean: 재범 (jaebeom) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Macedonian: рециди́в (recidív) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Macedonian: рецидиви́зам (recidivízam) — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Manx: aahuittym — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Polish: recydywa — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Portuguese: reincidência — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime
  • Spanish: reincidencia — committing new offenses after being punished for a crime