crimeware

C3R1I1M3E1W4A1R1E1

noun

Software that performs or facilitates illegal activities.

OriginEnglish softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nouncrimeware (uncountable)
  1. uncountablecomputingSoftware that performs or facilitates illegal activities.

    Technical subterfuge schemes plant crimeware onto PCs to steal credentials […]

    2007, Harold F Tipton, Micki Krause, Information Security Management Handbook, Volume 2

Origin

  1. Englishcrime
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  3. Proto-Germanic*samþuz /*samftuz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
  5. Old Englishsōfte
  6. Middle Englishsofte
  7. Englishsoft
  8. Proto-Germanic*warō
  9. Proto-West Germanic*waru
  10. Old Englishwaru
  11. Middle Englishware
  12. Englishsoftwarebf.
  13. Englishcrimeware

From crime + -ware.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

crimeware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crimeware

MLA

“crimeware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crimeware. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crimeware,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crimeware.

Source: crimeware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.