Meanings
felon1
- poeticOf a person or animal, their actions, thoughts, etc.: brutal, cruel, harsh, heartless; also, evil, wicked.
For Courteſies, tho' undeſerv'd and great, / No gratitude in Fellon-minds beget, / As tribute to his VVit, the churl receives the treat.
1687, [John Dryden], “The Third Part”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 1383 more examples
And tvventy youths in radiant mail incas'd, / Cloſe ambuſh'd nigh the ſpacious hall he plac'd. / Then bids prepare the hoſpitable treat: / Vain ſhevvs of love to veil his felon hate!
1725, Homer, “Book IV”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 187, lines 709–712Nor outvvard Tempeſt, nor corroſive Time, / Nought but the felon undermining Hand / Of dark Corruption, can it's Frame diſſolve, / And lay the Toil of Ages in the duſt.
1736, [James] Thomson, Britain: Being the Fourth Part of Liberty, a Poem, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 83, lines 1188–1191Yes, Leila sleeps beneath the wave, / But his shall be a redder grave; / Her spirit pointed well the steel / Which taught that felon heart to feel.
1813, Lord Byron, The Giaour, a Fragment of a Turkish Tale, London: […] T[homas] Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 20 - broadlyOf a place: harsh, savage, wild; of a thing: deadly; harmful.
He ask'd the VVaves, and ask'd the Fellon vvinds, / VVhat hard miſhap hath doom'd this gentle ſvvain?
1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 612 more examples
Thus often unbelief grovvn ſick of life, / Flies to the tempting pool or felon knife, / The jury meet, the coroner is ſhort, / And lunacy the verdict of the court: […]
1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Truth”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1782, →OCLC, page 95The hand that mingled in the meal, / At midnight drew the felon steel, / And gave the host's kind breast to feel / Meed for his hospitality!
1814, Walter Scott, “[Miscellaneous Poems.] On the Massacre of Glencoe”, in The Poetical Works of Walter Scott, Esq. […], volume XII, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Company] for Arch[ibald] Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; and John Murray, published 1820, →OCLC, page 142 - obsoleterareObtained through a felony; stolen.
Thus hee that conquer’d men, and beaſt moſt cruell, / (VVhoſe greedy pavves, vvith fellon goods vvere found) / Anſvver’d Goliah’s challenge in a duell, / And layd the Giant groveling on the ground: […]
1631, Thomas Fuller, “Davids Hainous Sinne. Stanza 19.”, in Davids Hainous Sinne. Heartie Repentance. Heavie Punishment, London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC; republished London: Basil Montagu Pickering, […], 1869, →OCLC, signature [A7], verso
plural felons
- criminal lawA person who has committed a felony (“a serious criminal offence”); specifically, one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime.
I doe defie thy coniurations: / And doe attach thee as a fellon heere.
c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], signature K, verso5 more examples
And therefore they are but like the Fellon that ſtandeth before the Judge, he quakes and trembles, and ſeems to repent most heartily; but the bottom of all is, the fear of the Halter, not of any deteſtation of the offence; as is evident, becauſe, let but this man have his liberty, and he vvill be a Thief, and ſo a Rogue still, vvhereas, if his mind vvas changed, he vvould be othervviſe.
1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, pages 215–216Hovv, vvith leſs reading than makes felons 'ſcape, / Leſs human genius than God gives an ape, / Small thanks to France, and none to Rome or Greece, / A paſt, vamp'd, future, old, reviv'd, novv piece, […]
1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the First”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, page 13, lines 225–228If the diſguſting detail of the accumulated inſults vve have received, in vvhat vve have very properly called our "ſolicitation," to a gang of felons and murderers, had been produced as a proof of the utter inefficacy of that mode of proceeding vvith that deſcription of perſons, I ſhould have nothing at all to object to it.
1797, Edmund Burke, “Letter III.”, in A Third Letter to a Member of the Present Parliament, on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France, London: […] F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […]; sold also by J[ohn] Hatchard, […], →OCLC, page 3Looking at the Jury and the turbulent audience, he might have thought that the usual order of things was reversed, and that the felons were trying the honest men.
1859, Charles Dickens, “Triumph”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book III (The Track of a Storm), pages 189–190The felon is the logical extreme of the epicure and coxcomb. Selfish luxury is the end of both, though in one it is decorated with refinements, and in the other brutal. But my point now is, that this spirit is not American.
1878 March 30, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic. Lecture Delivered at the Old South Church, March 30, 1878, Boston, Mass.: Houghton, Osgood and Company […], published 1878, →OCLC, pages 83–84 - obsoleteAn evil or wicked person.
The master'd felon press'd the ground, / And gasp'd beneath a mortal wound, / While o'er him stands the Bruce.
1815, Walter Scott, “Canto Third”, in The Lord of the Isles, a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza XXIX, page 1191 more example
But he, the King of Heav'n, obſcure on high, / Bar'd his red Arm, and launching from the Sky / His vvrithen Bolt, not ſhaking empty Smoak, / Dovvn to the deep Abyſs the flaming Felon ſtrook.
1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 386, lines 801–804
felon2
plural felons
- oftenspecificallybiologyA whitlow (“infection near or under a fingernail or toenail”).
He hev been away from home for a few days, since he's had that felon upon his finger; for a' said, since I can't work I'll have a hollerday.
1874, Thomas Hardy, “In the Sun—a Harbinger”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 31
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsomeone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
nouna purulent infection at the end of a finger or toe in the area surrounding the nail
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
felon · adjective, noun
- Middle Englishfeloun
- Early Medieval Latinfellōnem
- Old Frenchfelon“bad, evil, immoral”
- Middle Englishfeloun
- Englishfelon
The adjective is derived from Middle English feloun, felun (“base, wicked; hostile; of an animal: dangerous; of words: angry, harsh, slanderous; of things: dangerous, deadly; false, fraudulent; unlucky”) [and other forms], from Old French felon (“bad, evil, immoral”) (compare fel (“evil; despicable, vile”)), from Early Medieval Latin fellōnem; further etymology uncertain. Doublet of fell (“of a strong and cruel nature; fierce; grim; ruthless, savage”). Etymology 1, adjective sense 3 (“obtained through a felony”) is derived from the noun. The noun is derived from Middle English feloun, felun (“criminal, specifically one who has committed a felony, felon; cruel, hostile, violent, etc., person; deceiver; evildoer, monster, sinner; traitor; bold or fierce warrior; deceit, falseness; wickedness, wrongdoing; treachery”) [and other forms], from feloun, felun (adjective): see above. Cognates * Catalan felló (adjective) * French félon (adjective, noun) * Italian fellone (adjective, noun) * Occitan felon, felhon, fellon (adjective) * Spanish felón (adjective, noun)
More words from Middle English, Old French, Early Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →felon · noun
- Latinfel“bile, gall; bitterness; poison; venom”
- Old French*felon
- Middle Englishfeloun
- Englishfelon
From Middle English feloun, felone (“type of carbuncle or sore with pus; swelling on a hawk’s body”), possibly from Old French *felon, from Latin fel (“bile, gall; bitterness; poison; venom”): see etymology 1.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian престъ́пник, престъ́пница
- престъ́пник (prestắpnik)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- престъ́пница (prestắpnica)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- престъ́пничка (prestắpnička)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Catalan delinqüent
- delinqüentperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Czech zločinec
- zločinecperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Danish forbryder
- forbryderperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Dutch delinquent, misdadiger
- delinquentperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- misdadigerperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Finnish rikoksentekijä, rikollinen
- rikoksentekijäperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- rikollinenperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
French criminel, criminelle
- criminelperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- criminelleperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- délinquantperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
German Straftäter, Straftäterin
- Straftäterperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Straftäterinperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Verbrecherperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Verbrecherinperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Schwerverbrecherperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Schwerverbrecherinperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Kapitalverbrecherperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Kapitalverbrecherinperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- Schwerkriminellerperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Greek εγκληματίας, κακοποιός
- εγκληματίας (egklimatías)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- κακοποιός (kakopoiós)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Hebrew פּוֹשֵׁעַ
- פּוֹשֵׁעַ (poshéa')person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Indonesian narapidana
- narapidanaperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Italian criminale
- criminaleperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Latin scelestus
- scelestusperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Malay penjenayah berat
- penjenayah beratperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Polish zbrodniarz, zbrodniarka
- zbrodniarzperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- zbrodniarkaperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Romanian infractor
- infractorperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Russian престу́пник, престу́пница
- престу́пник (prestúpnik)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- престу́пница (prestúpnica)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Slovak zločinec
- zločinecperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Spanish delincuente, criminal
- delincuenteperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- criminalperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- felónperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Swedish förbrytare, brottsling
- förbrytareperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- brottslingperson who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Ukrainian злочи́нець, злочи́нниця
- злочи́нець (zločýnecʹ)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
- злочи́нниця (zločýnnycja)person who has committed a felony; one who has been tried and convicted of such a crime
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with felon
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
felon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felon
“felon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felon. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “felon,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felon.
Source: felon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.