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:
United States, to condemn the Tenure of Office Act and strike down a Reconstruction-era regulation of the presidency.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
Thanks to French-Saudi efforts, this declaration was the first U.N.-endorsed text to condemn the attacks of Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Was the US, too, going to condemn Britain's policy?
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Andrew and Channel 5 strongly condemn memecoins and want nothing to do with them.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Don’t condemn me, but think of me as a person who sometimes reaches the bursting point!
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
In a statement, the Army Cadet League of Canada, a civilian organisation that supports the programme, said it strongly condemns "any online harassment, or mockery of cadets' achievements".
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
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
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
Kat condemns it, because, he says, a man has to reckon with the possibility of an abdominal wound, and that is more dangerous on a full stomach than on an empty one.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
The Committee to Protect Journalists, the Radio Television Digital News Association and even Acosta’s peers at The Daily Caller – a right-leaning news outlet – condemned the White House ban.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he admired Coxon’s courage but questioned his claims about the future and condemned predictions of armageddon as irresponsible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Sen. John Cornyn condemned his “intolerance and racism,” warning “this is how great political parties self-destruct.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The country's president Nicusor Dan condemned on X the "extremely serious" violence and "any attempt to turn a legitimate protest into street fighting".
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Courts are deeply resistant to reviewing claims once a condemned prisoner has completed the appeals process the first time.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
El-Sayed’s campaign had already released a video condemning and memorializing 9/11 that morning.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
On Friday, all the parties in the Ceuta local assembly signed a declaration condemning violence.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
China’s Commerce Ministry backed the move, condemning the EU probe as an “unjustified suppression on Chinese enterprises.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Kushner drafted a statement condemning the Capitol violence that the White House never issued.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
But the unity of the opposition extended only to condemning the policy, not resisting it.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
