What does serial killer mean?
Definitions for serial killer
se·ri·al killer
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word serial killer.
Princeton's WordNet
serial killer, serial murderernoun
someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short interval
Wiktionary
serial killernoun
A person who commits multiple (more than two) murders, especially similar ones with no obvious motive over a period of time with a "cooling-off" period between each murder.
Wikipedia
Serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three murders, others extend it to four or lessen it to two.Psychological gratification is the usual motive for serial killing, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victim. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking, and killings may be executed as such. The victims may have something in common; for example, demographic profile, appearance, gender or race. Often the FBI will focus on a particular pattern serial killers follow. Based on this pattern, this will give key clues into finding the killer along with their motives.Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass murderer, spree killer, or contract killer, there exist conceptual overlaps between them. Some debate exists on the specific criteria for each category, especially with regard to the distinction between spree killers and serial killers.
ChatGPT
serial killer
A serial killer is typically defined as a person who commits murder on three or more occasions, with a 'cooling off' period in between, which can range from weeks to years. These individuals often exhibit a pattern or signature method in their killings, motivated by abnormal psychological gratification. The motives behind their crimes can vary, including anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking. Their crimes usually have a degree of premeditation and are not committed in the heat of the moment.
Wikidata
Serial killer
A serial killer is traditionally defined as a person who has killed three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification. Some sources, such as the FBI, disregard the "three or more" criteria and define the term as "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone" or, including the vital characteristics, a minimum of two murders. Often, a sexual element is involved in the killings, but the FBI states that motives for serial murder include "anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking". The murders may have been attempted or completed in a similar fashion and the victims may have had something in common; for example, occupation, race, appearance, sex, or age group. Serial killers are not the same as mass murderers, nor are they spree killers, who commit murders in two or more locations with virtually no break in between; however, cases of extended bouts of sequential killings over periods of weeks or months with no apparent "cooling off" period or "return to normalcy" have caused some serial killer experts to suggest a hybrid category of "spree-serial killer".
Suggested Resources
serial killer
Read the full text of the Serial Killer poem by Nikhil Parekh on the Poetry.com website.
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of serial killer in Chaldean Numerology is: 4
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of serial killer in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of serial killer in a Sentence
We were pretty surprised that Ted Bundy would write to the task force, he made it very clear what his purpose was in his letter. What he wanted to do, according to his description, was to get us into the mind of a serial killer. But we knew, just by the way the letter was written and the words he used, that he was just injecting himself into the situation, trying to find out as much as he could about the case.
When you put the narratives together ... it just screams serial killer.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig:
I appreciate our friends in the media for really dispelling a horrible rumor that was circulating across the city that there was a serial killer and that he had dumped five bodies in dumpsters across the city, that was absolutely false, you knew it was false and we only ask that if you didn't hear it from the Detroit Police Department, it's probably not so.
Ross County Prosecutor Matt Schmidt:
At this point, there’s no smoking gun that says, ‘Hey, we’ve got a serial killer on the loose,’ we have missing people and we have a homicide. There are certainly people talking in the community and people that are upset and understandably concerned about that. When there are those concerns, we don’t rule that out. We have to keep an open mind to the possibilities, but the evidence is going to dictate where we go with the investigation.
It appears we may have a serial killer.
Translations for serial killer
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- reeksmoordenaarAfrikaans
- seriemorderDanish
- SerienmörderGerman
- seria murdistoEsperanto
- asesino en serie, asesino serialSpanish
- sarimõrvarEstonian
- sarjamurhaajaFinnish
- tueur en sérieFrench
- רוֹצֵחַ סִדְרָתִיHebrew
- सीरियल किलरHindi
- sorozatgyilkosHungarian
- assassino seriale, serial killer, assassina serialeItalian
- シリアルキラーJapanese
- assassina em série, assassino em série, serial killerPortuguese
- asasin în serieRomanian
- сери́йный уби́йцаRussian
- serijski ubojica, serijska ubojica, serijski ubojiceSerbo-Croatian
- seriemördareSwedish
- seri katilTurkish
- серійний вбивцяUkrainian
- 连环杀手Chinese
Get even more translations for serial killer »
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"serial killer." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/serial+killer>.
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