different between criminal vs sneaky

English

Etymology

From Middle English cryminal, borrowed from Anglo-Norman criminal, from Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen (“crime”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k??m?n?l/

Adjective

criminal (comparative more criminal, superlative most criminal)

1. Against the law; forbidden by law.

   • Foppish and fantastic ornaments are only indications of vice, not criminal in themselves.

2. Guilty of breaking the law.
   • a. 1729, John Rogers, The Difficulties of Obtaining Salvation

     The neglect of any of the relative duties renders us criminal in the sight of God.

3. Of or relating to crime or penal law.
   • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England

     The officers and servants of the crown, violating the personal liberty, or other right of the subject […] in some cases, were liable to criminal process.

4. (figuratively) Abhorrent or very undesirable.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "criminal" is often applied: law, justice, court, procedure, prosecution, intent, case, record, act, action, behavior, code, offence, liability, investigation, conduct, defense, trial, history, responsibility, lawyer, tribunal, appeal, process, background, mind, conspiracy, evidence, gang, organization, underworld, jurisprudence, offender, jury, police, past, group, punishment, attorney, violence, report, career, psychology.

Synonyms

• crimeful
• illegal
• delictuous

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

criminal (plural criminals)

1. A person who is guilty of a crime, notably breaking the law.

   Synonyms: lawbreaker, offender, perpetrator

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:criminal

Hypernyms

• person

Derived terms

• cybercriminal
• thought criminal

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin crimin?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /k?i.mi?nal/

Adjective

criminal (masculine and feminine plural criminals)

1. criminal (against the law)
2. criminal (guilty of breaking the law)
3. criminal (of or relating to crime)

Derived terms

Noun

criminal m or f (plural criminals)

1. criminal (a person who is guilty of a crime)

Related terms

• crim

Further reading

• “criminal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “criminal” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “criminal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “criminal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin or Juridical Latin crimin?lis, from Latin cr?men.

Adjective

criminal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular criminale)

1. criminal; illegal; against the law

Declension

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin or Juridical Latin crimin?lis (“criminal”), from Latin cr?men (“verdict; crime”).

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /k?i.mi.?na?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /k?i.mi.?naw/

Adjective

criminal m or f (plural criminais, not comparable)

1. (law) criminal (of or relating to crime or penal law)

Related terms

Further reading

• “criminal” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French criminel, Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kri.mi?nal]

Noun

criminal m (plural criminali, feminine equivalent criminal?)

1. criminal, felon, perpetrator, offender, lawbreaker
2. murderer, slayer
3. cutthroat, thug

Declension

Adjective

criminal m or n (feminine singular criminal?, masculine plural criminali, feminine and neuter plural criminale)

1. criminal, felonious, lawbreaking
2. murderous, homicidal
3. cutthroat

Declension

Related terms

• criminalitate

Adverb

criminal

1. criminally

Related terms

• crim?

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin or Juridical Latin crimin?lis (“criminal”), from Latin cr?men (“verdict; crime”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?imi?nal/, [k?i.mi?nal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

criminal (plural criminales)

1. criminal

Derived terms

• criminalmente
• criminalista
• criminalizar

Noun

criminal m or f (plural criminales)

1. criminal

Related terms

• crimen
• criminalidad
• acriminar

Further reading

• “criminal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From sneak +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sni?ki/
• Rhymes: -i?ki

Adjective

sneaky (comparative sneakier, superlative sneakiest)

1. Difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting the adversaries

   Catching those thieves will be hard: they're so sneaky!

2. Dishonest; deceitful.

   They played a sneaky trick on us.

Synonyms

• slippery
• evasive, dodgy

Derived terms

• sneaky suspicion

Related terms

• sneak

Translations

Further reading

• sneaky in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sneaky in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Noun

sneaky (plural sneakies)

1. (espionage, slang) Any device used for covert surveillance.
   • 1974, Miles Copeland, Without cloak or dagger: the truth about the new espionage (page 244)

     […] in cooperation with the National Security Agency, installs and maintains "sneakies" throughout the U.S.S.R. and Communist China — but increasingly, denied areas are surveyed more simply.

   • 1991, Chapman Pincher, The Truth about Dirty Tricks

     […] has used travellers to plant 'sneakies' - small electronic transmitting devices which form part of a surveillance network.

Anagrams

• Kaysen, Sankey, Yankes, snakey