How to say “criminal” in 31 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- criminal/kɾimiˈnal/ Spanish
- مجرم/mud͡ʒ.rim/ Arabic
- 罪犯/t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ fän⁵¹/ Chinese
- अपराधी/əp.ɾɑː.d̪ʱiː/ Hindi
- פלילי/pliˈli/ Hebrew
- অপরাধমূলক/ɔpɔɾad̪ʱmulɔk/ Bengali
“criminal” in Spanish: criminal · French: criminel · Italian: criminale · Portuguese: criminoso · Chinese: 罪犯 · Arabic: مجرم · Hindi: अपराधी
It is commonest in Chinese, where 罪犯 is the 653rd most used word.
Criminal in other languages, A to Z
- Arabic مجرم/mud͡ʒ.rim/ #1,545
- Basque gaizkile/ɡai̯s̻kiʎe/ criminal, evildoer, villain #986
- Bengali অপরাধমূলক/ɔpɔɾad̪ʱmulɔk/ #2,201
- Bulgarian престъпник[prɛˈstɤpnik] #1,771
- Catalan criminal[kɾi.miˈnal] #1,574
- Chinese 罪犯/t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ fän⁵¹/ criminal; offender; culprit #653
- Dutch crimineel/ˌkri.miˈneːl/ criminal, contrary to enforceable legal rules #2,355
- Esperanto mafio/maˈfio/ A mafia; an organized criminal syndicate #2,463
- Estonian kurjategija/ˈkurjɑteɡ̊ijɑ/ #1,550
- French criminel/kʁi.mi.nɛl/ #2,195
- Hebrew פלילי/pliˈli/ #1,699
- Hindi अपराधी/əp.ɾɑː.d̪ʱiː/ criminal, offender, sinner, guilty, faulty #1,573
- Hungarian bűnös[ˈbyːnøʃ] criminal, guilty, culpable #1,807
- Indonesian penjahat/pənˈd͡ʒahat/ #869
- Italian criminale/kri.miˈna.le/ #2,084
- Korean 구나[kuna̠] act of catching a criminal #1,537
- Latvian noziedznieks/ˈnuoziedznieks/ #1,958
- Lithuanian nusikaltėlis[nʊsʲɪ²ˈkɐlʲˑtʲeːlʲɪs] a criminal, an offender #1,437
- Macedonian криминалец[krimiˈnalɛt͡s] #1,891
- Malay penjenayah/pən.d͡ʒə.na.ja(h)/ #938
- Malayalam കുറ്റകൃത്യം/kurrɐkɾt̪jɐm/ criminal act #1,621
- Persian مجرم[mod͡ʒ.ɹém] criminal, offender, felon #1,491
- Portuguese criminoso/kɾi.miˈno.zu/ #2,365
- Russian преступление[prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje] crime, criminal act, offense #1,926
- Slovak zločinec/zlɔt͡ʃiɲet͡s/ #1,587
- Slovenian zločinec/zlɔt͡ʃíːnət͡s/ #1,334
- Spanish criminal/kɾimiˈnal/ #2,038
- Tagalog kriminal/kɾimiˈnal/ criminal; sinful; grave #685
- Tamil குற்றவாளி/kʊrːɐʋɑːɭiː/ offender, culprit, criminal #1,038
- Urdu مجرم/mʊd͡ʒ.ɾɪm/ criminal, offender #714
- Vietnamese án[ʔaːn˧˦] criminal case #594
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.