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.

---

Example Sentences

Saturated fat has been taken off the black list.

From Barron's • Jan. 7, 2026

The regulations include a feature that lets users put specified contacts on a "black list", which effectively lets them block certain devices from sharing files.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2023

"This measure is designed to encourage those on the black list to change their behaviour," the ministry said in a statement.

From Reuters • Apr. 12, 2023

North Korea and Iran remain the only two countries on the FATF’s high-risk black list.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 21, 2021

Emma was all right at first, but that foul put her on Miss Watson's black list.

From Hester's Counterpart A Story of Boarding School Life by Jones, Adele W.

Related Words

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