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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
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 defendant
Showalter is also named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed last month by the man who was struck, William Michael Hardy.
—
Nathan Pilling
updated July 11, Kansas City Star, 11 July 2025
The defendants — the NCAA and power conferences — recently created the College Sports Commission as part of the settlement terms, an organization that will oversee and enforce the revenue sharing model, as well as a clearinghouse for additional third-party name, image and likeness (NIL) deals.
—Justin Williams, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Authorities in Massachusetts arrested six of the defendants on Tuesday morning, but one remains at large.
—Anders Hagstrom, FOXNews.com, 10 July 2025
Judges started to release defendants this week, including those accused of serious crimes, after attorneys stopped working in May.
—Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for defendant
Nathan Pilling
updated July 11, Kansas City Star, 11 July 2025
The defendants — the NCAA and power conferences — recently created the College Sports Commission as part of the settlement terms, an organization that will oversee and enforce the revenue sharing model, as well as a clearinghouse for additional third-party name, image and likeness (NIL) deals.
—Justin Williams, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Authorities in Massachusetts arrested six of the defendants on Tuesday morning, but one remains at large.
—Anders Hagstrom, FOXNews.com, 10 July 2025
Judges started to release defendants this week, including those accused of serious crimes, after attorneys stopped working in May.
—Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for defendant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defendant
Noun
-
But with this bill, Republicans are laying the groundwork to gut safeguards that stopped criminals from getting these deadly weapons.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 July 2025
-
Recently, however, the technology has been used by criminals for purposes of sextortion.—
Steve Weisman,
Forbes.com,
5 July 2025
Noun
-
Editor's note: A previous version of this story's headline indicated that the suspect would walk free after the charges were dropped.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
14 July 2025
-
When the suspect did not respond, deputies shot him with their duty weapons, the news release stated.—
Michelle Cruz,
AZCentral.com,
14 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Defendant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defendant. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share