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

See Examples For:

black list

Three countries are on the FATF's black list of countries that are high risk for money laundering and terrorism financing: Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

"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

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

Your government chartered four big liners to remove government officials and citizens who'll be on the Mekinese black list.

From Talents, Incorporated by Murray Leinster

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Related Words

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

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