hate crime

noun

: any of various crimes (such as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (such as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)

Examples of hate crime in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At the time of their departures, hate crimes were spiking in the city amid fallout from the Israel-Hamas war. —Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 3 Jan. 2025

In July 2024, Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 27, was convicted of first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement for the killing of Bernstein, who was gay and Jewish, in Foothill Ranch, California. —Doc Louallen, ABC News, 3 Jan. 2025

Roof was the first person in U.S. history to be sentenced to death for a federal hate crime. —Tara Suter, The Hill, 23 Dec. 2024

The study is the first of its kind to focus on Jewish representation since 1999 and predates the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and ensuing war in Gaza, which has led to an explosive 60 percent increase in antisemitic hate crimes. —Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

hate crime

noun

plural hate crimes

: any of various crimes (as assault) when motivated by hostility to the victim based on social characteristics (as color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin)

Legal Definition

hate crime

noun

: a crime that violates the victim's civil rights and that is motivated by hostility to the victim's race, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender