English
Pronunciation
Noun
serial killer (plural serial killers)
- (criminology) An individual who murders three or more people, with the killings taking place over a period of more than one month in three or more separate events.
2025 October 27, Dalia Faheid, “Bodies keep being recovered from the bayous around Houston. Why officials are convinced it’s not the work of a serial killer”, in CNN[1], archived from the original on 28 October 2025:“It’s easier to sort of attribute these deaths to a boogeyman serial killer as opposed to confronting the real possible reasons that these deaths are happening,” she said, pointing to mental health, substance abuse and housing issues.
Derived terms
Translations
person who commits multiple murders
- Afrikaans: reeksmoordenaar
- Albanian: vrasësi serik m
- Arabic: قَاتِل مُتَسَلْسِل m (qātil mutasalsil), قَاتِلَة مُتَسَلْسِلَة f (qātila mutasalsila)
- Armenian: սերիական մարդասպան (seriakan mardaspan)
- Asturian: asesín en serie m, asesín serial m
- Azerbaijani: seriyalı qatil
- Basque: serieko hiltzaile
- Belarusian: серы́йны забо́йца m (sjerýjny zabójca), серы́йная забо́йца f (sjerýjnaja zabójca), сэры́йны забо́йца m (serýjny zabójca), сэры́йная забо́йца f (serýjnaja zabójca)
- Bulgarian: сери́ен уби́ец m (seríen ubíec), сери́йна уби́йца f (seríjna ubíjca)
- Catalan: assassí en sèrie m
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 連環殺手 / 连环杀手 (lin4 waan4 saat3 sau2)
- Mandarin: 連環殺手 / 连环杀手 (liánhuán shāshǒu)
- Czech: sériový vrah m, sériová vražedkyně f
- Danish: seriemorder (da) c
- Dutch: seriemoordenaar (nl) m, seriemoordenaarster f
- Esperanto: seria murdisto
- Estonian: sarimõrvar
- Finnish: sarjamurhaaja (fi)
- French: tueur en série (fr) m, tueuse en série (fr) f
- Frisian:
- West Frisian: searjemoardner c
- Galician: asasino en serie m, asasina en serie f
- Georgian: სერიული მკვლელი (seriuli mḳvleli)
- German: Serienmörder (de) m, Serienmörderin (de) f, Serienkiller (de) m, Serienkillerin (de) f
- Greek: σίριαλ κίλερ n (sírial kíler)
- Hebrew: רוֹצֵחַ סִדְרָתִי m (rotséakh sidratí)
- Hindi: सिलसिलेवार क़ातिल (silsilevār qātil), सिलसिलेवार हत्यारा (silsilevār hatyārā)
- Hungarian: sorozatgyilkos (hu)
- Icelandic: raðmorðingi m
- Indonesian: pembunuh berantai
- Inupiaq: iñuaqtuqti
- Italian: assassino seriale m, assassina seriale f, serial killer (it) m or f, omicida seriale m, pluriomicida (it) m or f, pluriassassino m
- Japanese: シリアルキラー (shiriaru kirā), 連続殺人犯 (れんぞくさつじんはん, renzoku satsujinhan)
- Kazakh: сериялық өлтіруші (seriälyq öltıruşı)
- Korean: 연쇄살인범(連鎖殺人犯) (yeonswaesarinbeom), 련쇄살인범(連鎖殺人犯) (ryeonswaesarinbeom) (North Korea)
- Kyrgyz: сериялык өлтүргүч (seriyalık öltürgüc)
- Latvian: sērijveida slepkava m
- Lithuanian: serijinis žudikas m
- Luxembourgish: Seriemäerder m
- Macedonian: сериски убиец m (seriski ubiec)
- Malay: pembunuh bersiri
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: цуврал алуурчин (cuvral aluurčin)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: seriemorder m
- Persian:
- Iranian Persian: قاتِلِ زَنْجیرِهای (ġâtel-e zanjire-i)
- Polish: seryjny morderca (pl) m, seryjna morderczyni f
- Portuguese: assassino em série (pt) m, assassina em série (pt) f, serial killer (pt) m or f
- Romanian: asasin în serie m, ucigaș în serie m
- Russian: сери́йный уби́йца (ru) m (seríjnyj ubíjca), сери́йная уби́йца f (seríjnaja ubíjca)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: серијски убица m, серијски убојица m, серијска убојица f
- Latin: serijski ubica m, serijski ubojica m, serijska ubojica f
- Slovak: sériový vrah m, sériová vrahyňa f
- Slovene: serijski morilec m, serijska morilka f
- Spanish: asesino en serie m, asesina en serie f, asesino serial m
- Swedish: seriemördare (sv) c
- Tajik: қотили силсилавӣ (qotil-i silsilavi)
- Thai: ฆาตกรต่อเนื่อง (th) (kâat-dtà-gɔɔn-dtɔ̀ɔ-nʉ̂ʉang)
- Turkish: seri katil
- Ukrainian: сері́йний уби́вця m (seríjnyj ubývcja), сері́йна вби́вця f (seríjna vbývcja)
- Urdu: سِلْسِلَہ وار قاتِل m (silsila vār qātil)
- Uzbek: serial qotil
- Vietnamese: sát nhân hàng loạt
- Welsh: llofrudd cyfresol m
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See also
Further reading
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English serial killer. Compare assassino seriale, which is a calque.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛ.rjal ˈkil.ler/, /ˈsi.rjal ˈkil.ler/
- Hyphenation: sè‧rial‧kìl‧ler
Noun
serial killer m or f by sense (invariable)
- serial killer
- Synonym: assassino seriale
- Hypernym: pluriomicida
Further reading
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English serial killer.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈse.ɾi.aw ˈki.leʁ/ [ˈse.ɾɪ.aʊ̯ ˈki.leh], (faster pronunciation) /ˈse.ɾjaw ˈki.leʁ/ [ˈse.ɾjaʊ̯ ˈki.leh]
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈse.ɾi.aw ˈki.leʁ/ [ˈse.ɾɪ.aʊ̯ ˈki.leh], (faster pronunciation) /ˈse.ɾjaw ˈki.leʁ/ [ˈse.ɾjaʊ̯ ˈki.leh]
- (São Paulo) IPA(key): /ˈse.ɾi.aw ˈki.leɾ/ [ˈse.ɾɪ.aʊ̯ ˈki.leɾ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈse.ɾjaw ˈki.leɾ/ [ˈse.ɾjaʊ̯ ˈki.leɾ]
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˈse.ɾi.aw ˈki.leʁ/ [ˈse.ɾɪ.aʊ̯ ˈki.leχ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈse.ɾjaw ˈki.leʁ/ [ˈse.ɾjaʊ̯ ˈki.leχ]
- (Caipira) IPA(key): /ˈse.ɾi.aw ˈki.leɻ/ [ˈse.ɾɪ.aʊ̯ ˈki.leɻ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈse.ɾjaw ˈki.leɻ/ [ˈse.ɾjaʊ̯ ˈki.leɻ]
Noun
serial killer m or f by sense (plural serial killers)
- serial killer (person who commits multiple murders)
- Synonym: assassino em série