delinquent

See also: Delinquent and délinquent

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French délinquant, ultimately from Latin delinquens, present participle of delinquo.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈlɪŋkwənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

delinquent (comparative more delinquent, superlative most delinquent)

1. Late or failing to pay a debt or other financial obligation, like a mortgage or loan.

   Fred is delinquent in making his car payment.

2. Of a payment or other financial obligation: late or otherwise unfulfilled.

   The company made a new effort to collect delinquent payments.

   • 1981 February 7, David Morris, “Money Troubles May Close WCAS”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 28, page 3:

     The station's financial difficulties came to a head last week when the Internal Revenue Service had its bank accounts frozen as a result of delinquent taxes.

3. Failing in or neglectful of a duty or obligation; guilty of a misdeed or offense

Synonyms

• (late or failing to pay a debt): defaulting

Derived terms

• delinquency
• delinquently
• juvenile delinquent
• nondelinquent
• predelinquent

Related terms

• derelict
• relic
• relict
• relinquish

Translations

late or failing to pay a debt or other financial obligation

Danish: i restance, bagud med betaling Dutch: in gebreke blijvend German: säumig (de), rückständig Romanian: întârziat (ro), neachitat, neplătit Russian: уклоня́ющийся от упла́ты (uklonjájuščijsja ot upláty) Spanish: moroso (es)

Failing in or neglectful of a duty or obligation

Czech: delikventní Danish: pligtforsømmende German: straffällig (guilty of an offense), pflichtvernachlässigend (neglectful of a duty), pflichtversäumend (failing in a duty) Hebrew: פושעני, חורג (he), חורג מהחוק, פורע־חוק Persian: خلاف (fa) (xalâf) Spanish: delincuente (es)

Noun

delinquent (plural delinquents)

1. One who disobeys or breaks rules or laws, or who acts against another's wishes.
   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 269:

     She had the consolation of knowing that any offence given to her dignity could be avenged on the delinquent who caused it, an act of justice which could not fail to be consolatory, since every one of her daughters had at times stood in stead of "guid King James's whipping-boy," when circumstances arose to disturb the equanimity of Lady Anne's imperious and irascible temper.

2. A person who has not paid their debts.
3. (historical, derogatory) A royalist in the First English Civil War (1642-1646).

Usage notes

In relation to the royalist sense, Charles I of England was known as "the chief delinquent".

Synonyms

• (one who breaks the law): See also Thesaurus:criminal
• (royalist): cavalier

Translations

one who breaks the law

Bulgarian: нарушител (bg) m (narušitel), виновник (bg) m (vinovnik) Catalan: delinqüent (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 犯法者 (fànfǎzhě) Finnish: rikollinen (fi) French: délinquant (fr) m German: Delinquent (de), Krimineller (de) m, Straffälliger m Greek: παραβατικός (el) m (paravatikós) Hebrew: פורע־חוק m Indonesian: anak nakal (id) Italian: delinquente (it) m or f Japanese: 非行者 (ひこうしゃ, hikōsha), 下手人 (ja) (げしゅにん, geshunin) Persian: خلافکار (fa) (xalâfkâr), متخلف (fa) (motexallef), خاطی (fa) (xâti) Polish: delikwent (pl) m Portuguese: delinquente (pt) m or f Romanian: delincvent (ro) m Russian: правонаруши́тель (ru) m (pravonarušítelʹ), правонаруши́тельница (ru) f (pravonarušítelʹnica) Spanish: delincuente (es), pishtaco m (violent, Peru) Tagalog: dalinsil

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēlinquens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdeː.liˈkʋɛnt/, /ˌdeː.lɪŋˈkʋɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧lin‧quent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

delinquent m (plural delinquenten, diminutive delinquentje n)

1. criminal

   Synonyms: crimineel, misdadiger

Related terms

• delinquant (obsolete)

Descendants

• Afrikaans: delinkwent

Latin

Verb

dēlinquent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of dēlinquō