criminal

Compared meaning: a person who breaks the law (noun).

比较义项：违法者、罪犯（名词）。

• criminal 本词

  The neutral, general legal term for someone who has committed a crime; used in formal, everyday, and courtroom contexts without special connotation of dishonesty or fleeing.

  中性、通用的法律用语，泛指犯罪的人，常用于正式、日常及法庭语境，不特别强调欺诈或逃亡的含义。

  The judge described him as a dangerous criminal with several prior convictions.

  法官称他是一名有多次前科的危险罪犯。

• crook

  An informal word for a dishonest, scheming person, especially a swindler or thief; focuses on deceit rather than violence, common in everyday speech.

  口语化用词，指惯于行骗或使诈的不诚实之人，多指骗子或小偷，强调欺骗而非暴力，常用于日常口语。

  Don't trust that crook—he's swindled half the town out of their savings.

  别相信那个骗子——他已经骗光了半个镇子人的积蓄。

• outlaw

  Emphasizes a person who has broken the law and lives in hiding from it, historically linked to bandits on the frontier; more literary or dramatic in tone.

  强调此人违反法律并躲避追捕，历史上常与边疆的强盗联系在一起，语气更具文学性或戏剧性。

  The outlaw robbed banks across the frontier before finally being captured.

  这名逃犯在被捕之前曾在边疆各地抢劫银行。

All three mean a person who breaks the law. Criminal is the neutral, general legal term. Crook is informal for a dishonest person, like a swindler. Outlaw means someone hiding from the law, linked to bandits; the verb 'outlaw' meaning 'make illegal' is not compared.

这三个词在该义项下都可以指违法的人，但语气和侧重不同：criminal 是最中性、最正式的通用说法；crook 是口语化说法，强调惯于行骗或使诈，未必真的被定罪；outlaw 强调此人逃避法律制裁、不受法律保护，常带有历史或戏剧色彩。此处不比较 outlaw 作动词表示「宣布……为非法」的用法。