black list

Idioms  

1. A list of persons or things considered undesirable or deserving punishment, as in Japanese beetles are on my black list of garden pests. The practice of making such lists is quite old. Notorious examples include the late 19th-century black lists of union members whom employers would not hire and the black lists of persons suspected of being Communists as a result of the hearings held by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in the early 1950s. Today the term is also used more loosely, as in the example. [Early 1600s] Also see black book, def. 1.

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Example Sentences

Saturated fat has been taken off the black list.

From Barron's • Jan. 7, 2026

The data protection agency said that the tax authorities stopped using the black list in February 2020.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2022

Without citing sources, the Calcalist financial daily said Israeli police have possessed the Pegasus spyware made by Israel's NSO Group - which is now on a U.S. government black list -- since 2013.

From Reuters • Jan. 18, 2022

House managers maintain a black list of those who don’t wear the proper clothes, follow directives, show enough initiative, arrive on time or at all.

From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2018

Velo for once felt small, but he jotted young John Smith down on his black list for further reference!

From Shelled by an Unseen Foe by Fiske, James

Related Words

• censure
• criticism
• denunciation
• discontent
• dislike
• displeasure
• dissatisfaction
• objection