crook
Other forms: crooked; crooks; crooking
A crook is long staff that’s bent at one end, like something you might see a shepherd carrying. A crook can also be a criminal — a person who’s dishonest, or bent, just like the staff.
The noun crook entered English in the 13th century as a way to describe the long tool with a hook at one end. It later took on the meaning of “petty criminal.” You can use crook as an informal way to describe someone who is dishonest. A crook is typically involved in minor or nonviolent crimes; you wouldn’t use the word to describe a murderer, for example. A con man or someone committing fraud could be called a crook.
Definitions of crook
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a long staff with one end being hook shaped
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synonyms:
shepherd's crook
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type of:
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staff
a strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose
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staff
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a circular segment of a curve
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bend or cause to bend
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someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
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synonyms:
criminal, felon, malefactor, outlaw
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examples:
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William H. Bonney
United States outlaw who was said to have killed 21 men (1859-1881)
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Jesse James
United States outlaw who fought as a Confederate soldier and later led a band of outlaws that robbed trains and banks in the West until he was murdered by a member of his own gang (1847-1882)
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Robert MacGregor
Scottish clan leader and outlaw who was the subject of a 1817 novel by Sir Walter Scott (1671-1734)
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types:
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accessary, accessory
someone who helps another person commit a crime
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arsonist, firebug, incendiary
a criminal who illegally sets fire to property
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blackmailer, extortioner, extortionist
a criminal who extorts money from someone by threatening to expose embarrassing information about them
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bootlegger, moonshiner
someone who makes or sells illegal liquor
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briber, suborner
someone who pays (or otherwise incites) you to commit a wrongful act
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coconspirator, conspirator, machinator, plotter
a member of a conspiracy
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desperado, desperate criminal
a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier)
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fugitive, fugitive from justice
someone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justice
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gangster, mobster
a criminal who is a member of gang
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highbinder
a corrupt politician
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highjacker, hijacker
someone who uses force to take over a vehicle (especially an airplane) in order to reach an alternative destination
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goon, hood, hoodlum, punk, strong-armer, thug, tough, toughie
an aggressive and violent young criminal
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gaolbird, jail bird, jailbird
a criminal who has been jailed repeatedly
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abductor, kidnaper, kidnapper, snatcher
someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom)
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mafioso
a member of the Mafia crime syndicate in the United States
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gangster's moll, gun moll, moll
the girlfriend of a gangster
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liquidator, manslayer, murderer
a criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being)
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parolee, probationer
someone released on probation or on parole
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drug dealer, drug peddler, drug trafficker, peddler, pusher
an unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs
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racketeer
someone who commits crimes for profit (especially one who obtains money by fraud or extortion)
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raper, rapist
someone who forces another to have sexual intercourse
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habitual criminal, recidivist, repeater
someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)
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scofflaw
one who habitually ignores the law and does not answer court summonses
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contrabandist, moon curser, moon-curser, runner, smuggler
someone who imports or exports without paying duties
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stealer, thief
a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
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traitor, treasonist
someone who betrays his country by committing treason
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law offender, lawbreaker, violator
someone who violates the law
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apache
a Parisian gangster
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absconder
a fugitive who runs away and hides to avoid arrest or prosecution
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abetter, abettor
one who helps or encourages or incites another
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accessory after the fact
a person who gives assistance or comfort to someone known to be a felon or known to be sought in connection with the commission of a felony
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accessory before the fact
a person who procures or advises or commands the commission of a felony but who is not present at its perpetration
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accessory during the fact
a person who witnesses a crime but does not try to prevent it
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assassin, assassinator, bravo
a murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed
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bagman
a racketeer assigned to collect or distribute payoff money
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bandit, brigand
an armed thief who is (usually) a member of a band
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barnburner
someone who burns down a barn
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booster, lifter, shoplifter
a thief who steals goods that are in a store
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bully
a hired thug
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burglar
a thief who enters a building with intent to steal
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butcher
a brutal indiscriminate murderer
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collaborationist, collaborator, quisling
someone who collaborates with an enemy occupying force
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collaborator, confederate, henchman, partner in crime
someone who assists in a plot
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coyote
someone who smuggles illegal immigrants into the United States (usually across the Mexican border)
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crimp, crimper
someone who tricks or coerces men into service as sailors or soldiers
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cutthroat
someone who murders by cutting the victim's throat
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dacoit, dakoit
a member of an armed gang of robbers
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defalcator, embezzler, peculator
someone who violates a trust by taking (money) for his own use
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escapee
someone who escapes
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fifth columnist, saboteur
a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader
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fratricide
a person who murders their brother or sister
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body snatcher, ghoul, graverobber
someone who takes bodies from graves and sells them for anatomical dissection
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graverobber
someone who steals valuables from graves or crypts
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gun, gun for hire, gunman, gunslinger, hired gun, hit man, hitman, shooter, torpedo, triggerman
a professional killer who uses a gun
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arms-runner, gunrunner
a smuggler of guns
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hatchet man, iceman
a professional killer
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holdup man, stickup man
an armed thief
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infanticide
a person who murders an infant
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larcener, larcenist
a person who commits larceny
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mass murderer
a person who is responsible for the deaths of many victims in a single incident
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murderess
a woman murderer
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parricide
someone who kills his or her parent
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cutpurse, dip, pickpocket
a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places
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literary pirate, pirate, plagiariser, plagiarist, plagiarizer
someone who uses another person's words or ideas as if they were his own
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despoiler, freebooter, looter, pillager, plunderer, raider, spoiler
someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war)
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ripper
a murderer who slashes the victims with a knife
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robber
a thief who steals from someone by threatening violence
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rumrunner
someone who illegally smuggles liquor across a border
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cattle thief, rustler
someone who steals livestock (especially cattle)
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cracksman, safebreaker, safecracker
a thief who breaks open safes to steal valuable contents
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serial killer, serial murderer
someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short interval
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seizer, shanghaier
a kidnapper who drugs men and takes them for compulsory service aboard a ship
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snatcher
a thief who grabs and runs
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pilferer, sneak thief, snitcher
a thief who steals without using violence
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traitress
female traitor
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yakuza
a Japanese gangster
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yardie
member of an international gang of Jamaican criminals who sell drugs and violence
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type of:
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principal
(criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement
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William H. Bonney
Pronunciation
US
/krʊk/
UK
/krʊk/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘crook'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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Word Family
Vocabulary lists containing crook
Selection Vocabulary 2, Unit 3
This list covers "A Kenyan Teen’s Discovery," "Mother to Son," "Learning to Read," and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
Bob
While visiting her grandmother in Australia, Livy tries to fulfill a promise to help a magical creature find his way home.
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