DEFENDANT Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

defendant

noun

Definition of defendant

as in offender

a person who is being sued or accused of a crime in a court of law The jury believed that the defendant was guilty.

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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 defendant Dylan’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, countered by saying a non-settling defendant such as Scott is only entitled to an offset for settlement of economic damages. — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Paxton wasn't a defendant in the suit, but as the company's former attorney, he was deposed in 2019 and in 2022. — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026 Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Montana AG Austin Knudsen filed a motion with the Supreme Court seeking to have the antitrust suit thrown out, naming California and the 11 other states party to the Paramount lawsuit as defendants. — Todd Spangler, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026 Another defendant, Heather Bergdahl, a former Loretto executive and close friend of Ahmed’s, had been charged with helping to carry out the scheme. — Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for defendant

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defendant

Noun

Hansen’s sentence was first reduced to 25 years to life, and the state later created a pathway to earlier parole for many youthful offenders serving life sentences.

— Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
From names like ChatGPT and Gemini to Meta AI, Perplexity, and even Grok, the report identifies which chatbots are the most privacy-friendly and transparent in their practices and which are the worst offenders.

— Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of offender

Noun

Boxing is fun especially when the boxer in question is beating up criminals in East London.

— Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Working together to track these flows would reduce the chance that international criminals can extend their reach beyond any single jurisdiction.

— Alvin Camba, Foreign Affairs, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of criminal

Noun

A Little Rock police incident report lists Shelton as a suspect in the theft of mail from the post office at 7401 Colonel Glenn Road, where a blue postal collection box had been broken into early Friday.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Aug. 2026
Smith said the suspect has two TikTok accounts and one Instagram account.

— Dennis Romero, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of suspect

Noun

But, in an unexpected twist for the ranger, the faith leader is involved in the robberies though as a victim not a perpetrator.

— Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Video recordings and documents detail how investigators pursued the case, and the possibility of abuse, for months but failed to identify a perpetrator.

— Amy Brittain, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of perpetrator

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defendable

defendant

defendants

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“Defendant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defendant. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of defendant

noun

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