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# delinquent

«delinquent» in Mova's school dictionary: **a young person who keeps breaking the law or behaving badly** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a delinquent, delinquents); adjective (delinquent)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A delinquent, or juvenile delinquent, is a young person who keeps breaking the law or behaving badly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#m1)

2) (adjective) Delinquent behaviour is behaviour that breaks laws or rules. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#m2)

3) (formal, mainly US) A delinquent bill or account is one that has not been paid on time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Used in news, reports and stories about young people in trouble with the law; it is a serious, judging word. In formal and business English, a delinquent payment is a late one. Phrases: juvenile delinquent, delinquent behaviour, delinquent account.

### examples

- The police caught the young delinquents spraying paint on the wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#x1)
- The story is about a delinquent who turns his life around. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#x2)
- Stealing cars is delinquent behaviour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#x3)
- The bank sent a letter about the delinquent account. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#x4)
- He was called a juvenile delinquent, but he just needed help. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#x5)
- The delinquents were made to clean up the park. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#x6)
- Her tax payment was delinquent by three months. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/#x7)

### note

Countable noun: a delinquent, delinquents. Noun for the behaviour: delinquency (uncountable). It is a harsh label; calling a classmate a delinquent is insulting.

### In the corpora

- ["Delinquent account" (US jargon) means a debt that has not been paid on time.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/20-debt-and-jobs/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «delinquent» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/delinquent/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.