recidivist vs habitual criminal

recidivist and habitual criminal both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
recidivist	Yes	No	No	No
habitual criminal	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, recidivist and habitual criminal are synonyms defined as:

recidivist and habitual criminal: someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)

Other synonyms of recidivist include repeater.

recidivist (noun)	habitual criminal (noun)
someone who lapses into previous undesirable patterns of behavior	someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)
someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)