wrongdoer

noun

ˈrȯŋ-ˌdü-ər How to pronounce wrongdoer (audio)
Definition of wrongdoernext
as in criminal
a person who commits moral wrongs anticorruption crusaders are going after wrongdoers at every level of the nation's government

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wrongdoer The overpowering moral authority of wronged women, #MeToo’s skeptics alleged, would allow cynical wrongdoers to weaponize claims of victimhood for their own gain. — Moira Donegan, New Yorker, 9 June 2026 Greylord was a watershed moment in its use of eavesdropping devices and a mole to obtain evidence instead of relying on wrongdoers to become government informants. — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2026 And when thunderclaps rattled their chests, the Chinese felt a deity punishing wrongdoers. — Quanta Magazine, 6 May 2026 But critics of this effort say this internal mechanism fails to provide meaningful accountability and would protect wrongdoers from any future state bar investigation. — Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 25 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for wrongdoer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrongdoer
  1. criminal
  2. offender
  3. sinner
  4. villain
Noun
  • Still, a criminal may combine those details with passwords, PINs or other information stolen elsewhere.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.
    — Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • The Oak Lawn and Alsip village boards voted to regulate the use of security foggers in businesses as a method to deter offenders.
    — Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Too often, special occasions can feel like an excuse to buy a new outfit; weddings are the worst offenders.
    — Corinne Pierre-Louis, Vogue, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of offender
Noun
  • His life moved from pain to promise, despair to hope, and perhaps as humanly possible, from sinner to saint.
    — Steven D. Reske, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • On one page, tiny, antlike sinners tumbled down a cliff toward perdition.
    — Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of sinner
Noun
  • The station is soon invaded by out-of-time baseball stars, fairytale villains, and unseasonal snow, all created by aliens eager to understand the concept of imagination.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Carrie’s focus is also shifted, with the 2013 version finding Chloe Grace Moretz’s Carrie more akin to an X-Men villain than the traumatized, feverish teen Sissy Spacek played in 1976.
    — Alex Zalben, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of villain

Browse Nearby Words

wrong
wrongdoer
wrongdoers
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wrongdoer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrongdoer. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All