Justice, Crime & Society — C1 Essential Words

harassment /həˈræsmənt/ noun C1 Law

Meaning: Repeated behavior that annoys, threatens, or frightens someone — including at work, in streets, or online — and is against rules or laws.

Example: The company has a strict policy on harassment.

Another example: She reported the online harassment.

Collocations: harassment at work · sexual harassment · harassment policy

Synonyms: bullying, persecution, intimidation

Word family: harass (v) · harasser (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Workplaces name it in policies and trainings; laws define it by pattern — repeated and unwanted are its key ingredients.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its reporting systems are HR's most serious machinery.

Register: Formal — law essential.

corruption /kəˈrʌpʃən/ noun C1 Law

Meaning: Dishonest or illegal behavior by powerful people, especially officials who take money or favors to misuse their power.

Example: The mayor resigned over corruption.

Another example: Corruption slows economic growth.

Collocations: corruption in · fight corruption · corruption scandal

Synonyms: bribery, dishonesty, fraud

Antonyms: integrity, honesty

Word family: corrupt (adj/v) · corrupted (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Its index ranks countries worldwide each year (Transparency International). Data files also 'corrupt' — power and disks both lose integrity.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its scandals topple governments like weather.

Register: Formal — law essential.

bribe /braɪb/ noun / verb C1 Law

Meaning: Money or a gift given to someone in power to persuade them to do something dishonest or illegal; to give such a gift.

Example: He offered the officer a bribe.

Another example: Officials must never accept bribes.

Collocations: a bribe · offer a bribe · take bribes

Synonyms: payoff, kickback, inducement

Word family: bribes (n pl) · bribery (n) · bribe (v)

⚠ Common mistake: Parents bribe toddlers with dessert (legal and vital); officials must never be bribed — same verb, different universe of consequences.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its exposure ends careers in a headline.

Register: Formal — law essential.

theft /θeft/ noun C1 Law

Meaning: The crime of stealing something — taking property that belongs to someone else without permission.

Example: He was charged with theft.

Another example: Car theft fell this year.

Collocations: theft of · car theft · report a theft

Synonyms: stealing, robbery (with force), burglary (from buildings)

Word family: thefts (n pl) · thief (n) · thieves (n pl)

⚠ Common mistake: Theft (the crime), thief (the person), steal (the verb) — the family learners mix. Robbery adds force; burglary adds the building.

🗣 In spoken American English: Identity theft is its digital-age edition.

Register: Formal — law essential.

violence /ˈvaɪələns/ noun C1 Law

Meaning: Behavior that uses physical force to hurt people or damage things; also great force of nature (the violence of the storm).

Example: The film contains scenes of violence.

Another example: Violence solves nothing.

Collocations: violence against · an act of violence · violence in

Synonyms: force, aggression, brutality

Antonyms: peace, calm

Word family: violent (adj) · violently (adv)

⚠ Common mistake: Ratings boards count its scenes; history books count its cost. Weather borrows it for storms at full strength.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its opposite industry (mediation, peacekeeping) employs thousands.

Register: Formal — law essential.

punishment /ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/ noun C1 Law

Meaning: Something unpleasant done to someone because they broke a law or rule — fines, prison, or loss of privileges; the act of punishing.

Example: The punishment for the crime is five years.

Another example: Punishment alone doesn't teach habits.

Collocations: punishment for · a punishment · severe punishment

Synonyms: penalty, sentence, sanction

Antonyms: reward

Word family: punish (v) · punishable (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Parents, courts, and teachers administer different scales of it. 'Cruel and unusual punishment' is banned by the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its debate (does it reform?) fills law school seminars.

Register: Formal — law essential.

fraud /frɔːd/ noun C1 Law

Meaning: The crime of cheating someone to get money or advantage dishonestly; a person or thing that is not what it claims to be.

Example: He was jailed for bank fraud.

Another example: The investment was a fraud.

Collocations: bank fraud · fraud case · commit fraud

Synonyms: scam (informal), deception, cheating

Antonyms: honesty

Word family: frauds (n pl) · fraudster (n) · fraudulent (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Scam is its slangy twin; fraud is the charge sheet word. Election, tax, and insurance versions own their own task forces.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its detectors now include AI reading bank transactions at 3 a.m.

Register: Formal — law essential.

accuse /əˈkjuːz/ verb C1 Law

Meaning: To say that someone did something wrong or illegal, often formally in court; to blame someone in speech.

Example: He was accused of stealing the money.

Another example: She accused him of lying.

Collocations: accused of · accuse someone · falsely accused

Synonyms: charge, blame, allege (formal)

Antonyms: defend, clear

Word family: accusation (n) · accused (n — the person) · accuser (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Accuse someone OF something — the preposition is law in this verb. 'The accused' as a noun is the defendant in court reports.

🗣 In spoken American English: Front pages live on it before verdicts complicate things.

Register: Formal — law essential.

confess /kənˈfes/ verb C1 Law

Meaning: To admit that you did something wrong, often to the police or in a religious setting; also to admit a private feeling.

Example: He confessed to the crime.

Another example: She confessed that she liked him.

Collocations: confess to · confess that · confess a crime

Synonyms: admit, own up, acknowledge

Antonyms: deny

Word family: confession (n) · confessional (n/adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Police stations and churches share it. Rom-coms use its third sense ('confess my feelings') as the final scene's engine.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its false version is law's recurring nightmare and podcast genre.

Register: Formal — law essential.

investigate /ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪt/ verb C1 Law

Meaning: To examine a crime, problem, or event carefully to discover the truth, by collecting facts and evidence.

Example: Police are investigating the fire.

Another example: The committee investigated the bank.

Collocations: investigate the case · investigate how · under investigation

Synonyms: examine, probe, look into

Antonyms: ignore, cover up

Word family: investigation (n) · investigator (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Detectives, journalists, and scientists all run it. 'Under investigation' is news language for 'not yet concluded — or charged'.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its TV form (procedurals) is America's longest-running genre.

Register: Formal — law essential.