Standard Lemma guide

wrongdoer

noun · 2 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.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R AO1 NG D UW1 ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Someone who does wrong, whether morally, ethically, or in contravention of a law.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Get and keep wrongdoers out of your thorp (village).

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a person who transgresses moral or civil law

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: offender

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bad person

Narrower terms: abuser, maltreater, attacker, aggressor, assailant, assaulter, barrator, barrater, convict, deceiver, cheat, cheater, trickster, beguiler, slicker, delinquent, juvenile delinquent, deserter, defector, gonif, goniff, ganef, ganof, transgressor, malfeasant, molester, no-show, nonattender, truant, perpetrator, culprit, pimp, procurer, panderer, pander, pandar, fancy man, ponce, principal, recidivist, backslider, reversionist, reprobate, miscreant, shark, shyster, pettifogger, sinner, evildoer, usurper, supplanter, war criminal

History

Etymology

From wrong + doer.

Across languages

Translations

45 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: keqbërës — someone who does wrong
  • Arabic: أثِيم — someone who does wrong
  • Arabic: آثِم (ʔāṯim) — someone who does wrong
  • Arabic: مُرتَكِب — someone who does wrong
  • Arabic: مُذنِب — someone who does wrong
  • Arabic: جانِي (jānī) — someone who does wrong
  • Armenian: չարագործ (čʻaragorc) — someone who does wrong
  • Catalan: malfactor — someone who does wrong
  • Chinese Mandarin: 作惡者 /作恶者 (zuò'è zhě) — someone who does wrong
  • Chinese Mandarin: 為非作歹者 /为非作歹者 (wéifēizuòdǎi zhě) — someone who does wrong
  • Esperanto: malbonfaranto — someone who does wrong
  • Finnish: väärintekijä — someone who does wrong
  • Finnish: pahantekijä — someone who does wrong
  • French: malfaiteur — someone who does wrong
  • Galician: malfeitor — someone who does wrong
  • German: Übeltäter — someone who does wrong
  • German: Zuwiderhandelnder — someone who does wrong
  • German: Zuwiderhandelnde — someone who does wrong
  • German: Sündiger — someone who does wrong
  • German: Gesetzesbrecher — someone who does wrong
  • German: Abweichler — someone who does wrong
  • Hindi: पापी (pāpī) — someone who does wrong
  • Hindi: विधर्मी (vidharmī) — someone who does wrong
  • Hindi: अधर्मी (adharmī) — someone who does wrong
  • Hindi: दुराचारी (durācārī) — someone who does wrong
  • Hungarian: gonosztevő — someone who does wrong
  • Italian: malintenzionato — someone who does wrong
  • Italian: malfattore — someone who does wrong
  • Italian: trasgressore — someone who does wrong
  • Italian: delinquente — someone who does wrong
  • Italian: malvivente — someone who does wrong
  • Latin: malefactor — someone who does wrong
  • Malayalam: അപരാധി (aparādhi) — someone who does wrong
  • Malayalam: തെറ്റുകാരൻ (teṟṟukāraṉ) — someone who does wrong
  • Marathi: चुकीचे काम करणारी व्यक्ती (cukīce kām karṇārī vyaktī) — someone who does wrong
  • Mauritian Creole: malfeter — someone who does wrong
  • Norman: malfaiteux — someone who does wrong
  • Occitan: malfactor — someone who does wrong
  • Polish: złoczyńca — someone who does wrong
  • Portuguese: malfeitor — someone who does wrong
  • Russian: злоумы́шленник (zloumýšlennik) — someone who does wrong
  • Russian: злоумы́шленница (zloumýšlennica) — someone who does wrong
  • Spanish: malhechor — someone who does wrong
  • Spanish: malfechor (disused) — someone who does wrong
  • Unami: mahchilësit — someone who does wrong