desperate criminal vs crook

desperate criminal and crook both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
desperate criminal	Yes	No	No	No
crook	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, crook is a hypernym of desperate criminal; that is, crook is a word with a broader meaning than desperate criminal:

desperate criminal: a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier)
crook: someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime

Other hypernyms of desperate criminal include criminal, felon, malefactor, outlaw.

desperate criminal (noun)	crook (noun)
a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier)	a long staff with one end being hook shaped
	someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
	a circular segment of a curve

desperate criminal (verb)	crook (verb)
	bend or cause to bend