From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdelinquentde‧lin‧quent1 /dɪˈlɪŋkwənt/ adjective 1 SCCCRIMEbehaving in a way that is illegal or that society does not approve of → criminaldelinquent girls/boys/children/teenagers2 OWE technical a delinquent debt, account etc has not been paid on time the recovery of delinquent loans
Examples from the Corpus
delinquent• Intel converted part of the delinquent accounts receivable to a loan last fall.• Terms of cash on delivery or advance payment should be instituted for future sales to consistently delinquent accounts.• delinquent children• The pregnant woman who refuses to present herself for her regular scans is delinquent in her duty to herself and her baby.• Fundamentally she is a slightly delinquent page-boy with small buttocks and an upturned nose.• He said collection of delinquent payments has increased from $ 8 billion to $ 11 billion under his administration.• Below we reproduce Cohen's definition of a delinquent subculture.• The federal government hopes to increase its collection of delinquent taxes.• Bono is derived from some gang name he acquired during a recent delinquent youth.• Jail is not a good place to rehabilitate delinquent youths.delinquent girls/boys/children/teenagers• Residential care has long been associated with care of deprived and delinquent children.delinquentdelinquent2 noun [countable] SCCCRIMEsomeone, especially a young person, who breaks the law or behaves in ways their society does not approve of Deanes writes and lectures about teenage delinquents. → juvenile delinquentExamples from the Corpus
delinquent• The definition of an individual as a delinquent provides an example.• The process of becoming a delinquent is the same as the process of becoming, let us say, a Boy Scout.• More than half of all juvenile delinquents currently in state institutions have disturbed family backgrounds.• It is difficult to point to the material goals which football hooligans or juvenile delinquents are chasing.• He blames most of the town's problems on local delinquents.• He blames most of the problem on young local delinquents.• Moreover, it is perhaps doubtful whether many delinquents hold openly oppositional views or values as Cohen suggests.From Longman Business Dictionarydelinquentde‧lin‧quent /dɪˈlɪŋkwənt/ adjective American EnglishACCOUNTING delinquent account/debt/payment etc an account, debt etc that has not been paid at the right time, or has not been paid at allCreditor management allows lenders to reduce the risk of delinquent accounts.Origin delinquent1 (1400-1500) Latin delinquere “to fail, offend”, from linquere “to leave” 