Misdoer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who engages in illicit activities or is guilty of unethical behavior
2. An individual known for performing acts that breach laws or moral codes
3. Someone who acts against laws or ethical standards

Etymology: Misdoer is a plain compound: "misdo" (to do wrongly, to commit a wrong) with the agent suffix "-er" attached, so it names the person who does the misdeed. The "mis-" prefix comes from Old English, where it carried the sense of "wrong" or "amiss," and it appears in many verbs such as "misdo," "mislead," and "misjudge." The suffix has a longer ancestry. The "-er" ending descends from Old English "-ere," which itself traces back through Proto-Germanic to Latin "-arius," a suffix used for people associated with a trade or role. Old French passed on a version of it ("-ier") that entered Middle English as "-er," so the ending reached English along two routes that merged into one. Because "misdo" is an English verb built from native parts, the whole word is English in construction, with the Latin contribution arriving only through the suffix.

Synonyms: wrongdoer, offender, criminal

Antonyms: law-abiding citizen, saint