A criminaloid (from the word "criminal" and suffix ''

-oid In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can car ...

'', meaning ''criminal-like'') is a person who projects a respectable, upright façade in an attempt to conceal a criminal personality. This type, first defined by

Cesare Lombroso Cesare Lombroso ( , ; ; born Ezechia Marco Lombroso; 6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909) was an Italian eugenicist, criminologist, phrenologist, physician, and founder of the Italian school of criminology. He is considered the founder of m ...

in the later editions of his 1876 work ''The Criminal Man'', unlike ordinary criminals, criminaloids enjoy the respect of society and, because they often establish connections with the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, they are less likely to meet with opposition. Due to their respectable standing, they generally enjoy greater prosperity than the average criminal, and have an automatic advantage over their more conscientious colleagues. From the ''

Encyclopedia of White Collar and Corporate Crime An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by articl ...

'': "The key to the criminaloid is not evil impulse, but moral insensibility. The criminaloid prefers to prey on the anonymous public. He goes beyond this by convincing others to act instead of acting himself, which protects him from liability and being labeled a criminal, and is instead immune to such scrutiny. The criminaloid practices a protective impersonation of the good. The criminaloid counterfeits the good citizen."

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