What does "preterintentional" mean?

Of a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead.

How do you pronounce "preterintentional"?

Pronounced //ˌpɹiː.təɹˌɪnˈtɛnʃənəl//.

//ˌpɹiː.təɹˌɪnˈtɛnʃənəl// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Adjective

1
Of a crime: more serious than the lesser crime that the perpetrator intended to commit instead. not-comparable
"The number of intentional homicides and preterintentional homicides reported are^([sic]) available for 1900-1939 and 1946-47."

"The number of intentional homicides and preterintentional homicides reported are^([sic]) available for 1900-1939 and 1946-47."

From preter- + intentional.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.