What does criminality mean?
Criminality is a noun describing the state or quality of being criminal, as well as the extent to which crime characterizes a person, group, place, or activity. Unlike "crime," which names specific unlawful acts, criminality treats lawbreaking as an abstract condition or measurable phenomenon — hence phrases such as "organized criminality" or "rising youth criminality." The word is largely formal and academic, appearing most often in sociology, criminology, legal commentary, and official reports, where writers analyze patterns and causes of offending rather than individual cases. It derives from the Latin "criminalis," relating to judgment or accusation, via the adjective "criminal." Because it frames wrongdoing as a social condition rather than a discrete event, criminality is especially useful in discussions of policy, statistics, and research into why people break the law.
nounThe state, quality, or fact of being criminal; the degree to which something is involved in or characterized by criminal activity. It can also refer to criminal behavior or acts in a collective sense.
- The quality or state of being criminal; involvement in criminal behavior.
- The prevalence or level of crime within a society, group, or area.
"The report linked rising unemployment in the region to an increase in criminality among young people."
"Sociologists have long debated whether poverty is a root cause of criminality."
"The committee was established to investigate organized criminality within the shipping industry."
Rarely used in the plural; the singular form is standard even when referring to multiple instances or types of criminal behavior.
"The conference addressed various criminalities across different cultures."
"Criminality" comes from the same Latin root that gives us "discriminate" — literally to separate one thing from another, which is exactly what the law does when it separates the guilty from the innocent.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of criminality
Criminality entered English in the early modern period, derived from the adjective "criminal," which traces back through Old French to the Latin "criminalis," meaning pertaining to a crime or accusation, itself from "crimen" (judgment, charge, or offense). It shares this Latin root with words such as "criminology," "incriminate," and, more distantly, "discriminate," all built on the idea of judging or distinguishing. The word developed alongside the growth of formal legal systems and later became central to nineteenth- and twentieth-century criminological discourse.
Related word forms
How criminality is actually used
A formal or academic term, more common in sociological, criminological, and legal writing than in everyday speech, where "crime" is usually preferred. It carries an abstract, often statistical connotation — one speaks of levels or patterns of criminality rather than of a single act.
Easily confused with criminality
"Crime" refers to specific illegal acts themselves, while "criminality" denotes the quality, state, or prevalence of being criminal as an abstract condition.