Noun: recidivist ri'si-di-vist
- Someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behaviour (especially for the same criminal behaviour)
"The recidivist was well-known to local law enforcement";
- repeater, habitual criminal
- Someone who lapses into previous undesirable patterns of behaviour
"The reformed alcoholic became a recidivist after losing his job";
- backslider, reversionist
Derived forms: recidivists
Type of: crim [Brit, informal], criminal, crook [informal], felon, malefactor [formal], offender, outlaw, wrongdoer
Encyclopedia: Recidivist