bill of attainder
Americannoun
noun
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.
Judge Talwani still saw the law as a bill of attainder.
From Slate • Jul. 29, 2025
And the Supreme Court may not see this law as a bill of attainder either.
From Slate • Jul. 29, 2025
A bill of attainder is a law that convicts or punishes someone for a crime without a trial, a tactic used fairly frequently in England against the king’s enemies.
From Textbooks • Jul. 28, 2021
A bill of attainder is an unconstitutional legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial.
From Fox News • Apr. 8, 2019
The prohibitions of power by the Constitution to the States are express prohibitions, as that no State shall enter into any treaty, etc., or emit bills of credit, or pass any bill of attainder, etc.
From History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States by Barnes, William Horatio
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.
