Malefactor

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Malefactor \Mal`e*fac"tor\, n. [L., fr. malefacere to do evil;
     male ill, evil + facere to do. See {Malice}, and {Fact}.]
     1. An evil doer; one who commits a crime; one subject to
        public prosecution and punishment; a criminal.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. One who does wrong by injuring another, although not a
        criminal. Opposite of {benefactor}. --H. Brooke. --Fuller.
        "Malefactors of great wealth." [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     Syn: Evil doer; criminal; culprit; felon; convict.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  malefactor
       n : someone who has committed (or been legally convicted of) a
           crime [syn: {criminal}, {felon}, {crook}, {outlaw}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  35 Moby Thesaurus words for "malefactor":
     bad person, blackguard, criminal, crook, culprit, deceiver,
     delinquent, evil man, evil person, evildoer, felon, gangster,
     knave, lawbreaker, malevolent, malfeasant, malfeasor, miscreant,
     misdemeanant, misdemeanist, misfeasor, mobster, offender, outlaw,
     public enemy, racketeer, rascal, rogue, scoundrel, sinner, thief,
     transgressor, villain, worker of ill, wrongdoer
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MALEFACTOR. He who bas been guilty of some crime; in another sense, one who 
  has been convicted of having committed a crime. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  MALEFACTOR, n.  The chief factor in the progress of the human race.