What does recidivous mean?
Recidivous means likely to relapse, especially into criminal conduct, harmful behavior, or a pattern that has appeared before. The adjective is commonly used with terms such as offender, behavior, and risk, particularly in legal, criminological, and public-health discussions. It describes a tendency rather than merely one isolated incident: a recidivous offender has repeatedly returned to offending, while recidivous behavior keeps emerging despite intervention or treatment. The word carries a strongly negative connotation because it suggests persistence, repetition, and resistance to change. More generally, it can mean recurrent or tending to relapse, as with a recidivous tendency to return to a harmful habit. Its Latin roots convey the idea of falling back, a fitting origin for a word concerned with repeated return to an earlier course.
adjectiveLikely to relapse or return to a former state, especially to repeat criminal behavior or an undesirable pattern.
- Tending to relapse into criminal behavior or another harmful or undesirable pattern.
- Tending to recur or return repeatedly; recurrent.
"The court imposed a longer sentence because the defendant had a recidivous history of violence."
"The recidivous driver was barred from entering the city after multiple violations."
"Researchers studied the recidivous nature of the habit and designed a program to interrupt it."
Recidivous comes from the Latin idea of “falling back”: a person or habit that keeps returning to an old pattern.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does recidivous come from?
The word derives from Latin recidere, meaning “to fall back” or “to return,” formed from the prefix re- and cadere, “to fall.” The English adjective emerged in the early 17th century in the sense of recurring or relapsing, and became especially associated with repeated criminal behavior. Its relatives include recidivism and recidivate, while words such as recede and cascade share the Latin root of falling or falling back.
Related word forms
How recidivous is actually used
The term is most commonly used in legal and criminological contexts, but it can also describe recurring disease or persistent undesirable behavior. It is more formal than everyday alternatives such as repeat or recurrent.
Easily confused with recidivous
Recidivous describes a person or pattern that tends to relapse, whereas recidivism names the act or phenomenon of relapsing, especially into criminal behavior.