ADJ

appalling, awful, barbaric, barbarous, bloody, brutal, despicable, dreadful, grave, great, heinous, horrible, horrific, serious, terrible, vicious
one of the most horrific crimes of recent times (figurative) Not returning phone calls is a grave crime in today's culture
big, major
the biggest crime since the Great Train Robbery
lesser, minor, petty
He was charged with the lesser crime of possessing a forged bond, rather than actually forging it
real
She claimed that the real crime is that burglars and muggers usually get a light sentence
violent
non-violent
perfect
He boasted of having carried out the perfect crime
notorious
one of the most notorious crimes in British history
capital (= for which the penalty is death)
After the reforms the only capital crimes were treason and murder
indictable
alleged
She never faced trial for her many alleged crimes
unsolved
copycat
the danger of copycat crimes in the wake of the shootings
motiveless
an apparently motiveless crime
victimless
Insider dealing has been called a victimless crime
white-collar
drug-related
sex/sexual
war
political
terrorist

VERB + CRIME

carry out, commit
report
Many crimes are never reported to the police

CRIME + VERB

involve sth
crimes involving firearms
be punishable by sth
crimes punishable by death

PREP

~ against
crimes against humanity

PHRASES

a crime of passion/violence, the scene of the crime
No weapon was found at the scene of the crime

ADJ

serious
petty
violent
non-violent
recorded
unrecorded
growing, mounting, rising
drug-related
middle-class, working-class, etc.
white-collar
Corporate crime?committed by businesses?should not be confused with white-collar crime, which refers to the occupation of the perpetrator and may be directed against a business
business, corporate
organized
juvenile, youth
international, local, regional
rural, urban
car, computer, property, street
attempts to prevent hacking and computer crime
sex/sexual

VERB + CRIME

carry out, commit
combat, fight, tackle
beat, crack (informal)
Police forces will exchange ideas on cracking crime
deter, prevent, stop
control, cut, reduce
detect, investigate
The public have a crucial role to play in detecting crime
solve
punish
cause
be driven to, turn to
He says that bored youngsters turn to crime

CRIME + VERB

double, increase, rise

CRIME + NOUN

figures, level, rate, statistics
control, prevention
problem, wave
the country's crime problem
squad
a senior detective with the serious crime squad
syndicate
leading members of an organized crime syndicate
fiction, novel, series, story
the latest TV crime series
reporter, writer
the newspaper's crime reporter a new short story by the popular crime writer

PHRASES

a crackdown on crime
a crackdown on drug-related crime
crime and disorder, crime and punishment, fear of crime
Fear of crime imprisons many elderly people in their homes
an increase in crime, a life of crime
Unemployed young people were likely to be tempted into a life of crime
sb's partner in crime, a victim of crime
Victims of crime may be able to obtain compensation