condemn
Americanverb (used with object)
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condemns,
present (3rd person singular)
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condemned,
past participle, past
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condemning
present participle
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to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure.
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to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment.
to condemn a murderer to life imprisonment.
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to give grounds or reason for convicting or censuring.
His acts condemn him.
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to judge or pronounce to be unfit for use or service.
to condemn an old building.
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U.S. Law. to acquire ownership of for a public purpose, under the right of eminent domain.
The city condemned the property.
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to force into a specific state or activity.
His lack of education condemned him to a life of menial jobs.
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to doom to eternal punishment in hell.
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to declare incurable.
verb
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to express strong disapproval of; censure
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to pronounce judicial sentence on
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to demonstrate the guilt of
his secretive behaviour condemned him
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to judge or pronounce unfit for use
that food has been condemned
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to compel or force into a particular state or activity
his disposition condemned him to boredom
Synonym Usage
See blame.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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condemnationnoun
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condemnernoun
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condemnornoun
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recondemnverb (used with object)
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condemnableadjective
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self-condemningadjective
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uncondemnableadjective
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uncondemningadjective
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condemnablyadverb
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condemninglyadverb
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uncondemninglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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condemnsimple
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condemnssimple
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have condemnedperfect
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has condemnedperfect
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am condemningprogressive
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are condemningprogressive
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is condemningprogressive
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have been condemningperfect progressive
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has been condemningperfect progressive
Past
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condemnedsimple
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had condemnedperfect
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was condemningprogressive
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were condemningprogressive
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had been condemningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of condemn
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English condempnen, from Anglo-French, Old French condem(p)ner, from Latin condemnāre; see con-, damn
Explanation
You can condemn, or openly criticize, someone who is behaving inappropriately. If you are an animal rights activist, you would probably condemn someone for wearing fur. Condemn originally comes, through Old French, from the Latin word condemnāre, "to sentence, condemn." You may see politicians condemn each other in political ads during a campaign in hopes of improving their chances of winning an election. You also might hear of a convict being "condemned to death." In this sense of the word, to condemn still carries on its Latin meaning of "to sentence."
Vocabulary lists containing condemn
List 3
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The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act V
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Most Israelis condemn this behavior, but negative attitudes toward Christianity have become more common, particularly among young people, surveys show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
He called on political parties to "condemn acts that deliberately inflame tensions".
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Asked by CNN whether he would condemn the group and what they stand for, and whether he would urge President Donald Trump to do the same, Burgum couched his language carefully.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
But it was extremely hypocritical of the U.S. to condemn the Barbary states for enslaving a few hundred Americans given, you know, the extensive enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Africans on American soil.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
It is quite another to condemn all use of hindsight and to insist that the past should only be presented ‘in its own terms’.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Hamawy has said he condemns Abdel-Rahman’s violent rhetoric and actions and that he had no contact with the cleric after his arrest.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Weeks before the elections, Meloni released videos in multiple languages saying the Italian right “unambiguously” condemns the fascist regime’s suppression of democracy and antisemitic policies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
The United Nations said on Friday it "strongly condemns any attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur", adding it could not verify details due to restricted access to the area.
From Barron's ● May 24, 2026
Grant has been a well-established critic of the Fed’s propensity to tolerate inflation for some time and in particular he condemns the purchasing power that has been lost since 2020, because of the Fed’s policies.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 14, 2026
‘Alas, my cruel fate condemns me to remain here till my tyrant is destroyed.’
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
He damns terrorists with faint praise, as when he condemned the attack on a Jewish school in West Bloomfield, Mich., before excusing the perpetrator with the words “hurt people do hurt people.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Sonowal condemned the "unprovoked attack" and said steps would be taken to ensure the safety of seafarers in the region.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
As a professor of classics at the University of Pennsylvania, she’ll be on the front line of academics condemned to unteach Nolan’s heavily altered screenplay to students who will arrive quoting it chapter and verse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Democrats and Republicans alike swiftly condemned him, and his own party rightly pushed him to drop out of the race.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Because Bruno’s ideas made such a splash at the time, and because he was condemned by the Church, all these ideas got tarred with the same brush.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
They don’t deserve a museum that alternates between ignoring and condemning our extraordinary heritage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
In her statement condemning Simon's death, Okey-Uche, Nigeria's consul general in Johannesburg, called for a "transparent" investigation and alleged that there was "an alarming pattern of unresolved extrajudicial killings/deaths and unacceptable misconduct against foreign nationals".
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
German politicians were swift to react to the attack, with Berlin's Mayor Kai Wegner condemning a "brutal attack" on "a gathering for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin".
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Every time the narrative comes close to truly condemning children’s access to devices, the movie pulls back in fear of isolating or angering the audience.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
It is a tragic cycle, condemning us to ever deeper inequality, and in the long run, almost no one benefits but the agents of repression themselves.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
