Meanings
nounyoung offender (plural young offenders)
plural young offenders
- A child who has been convicted of a criminal offense.
Utterly contradictory policies towards young offenders prevailed in the 80s and 90s, veering between the exploration of non-custodial alternatives and increased sentence lengths, introduced by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994.
2020 July 23, Chris Daw, “'A stain on national life': why are we locking up so many children?'”, in The Guardian
Cite this entry
APA
young offender. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/young%20offender
MLA
“young offender.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/young%20offender. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “young offender,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/young%20offender.
Source: young offender on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.