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Synonyms

condemned

American  
[kuhn-demd] / kənˈdɛmd /

adjective

  1. pronounced guilty; sentenced to punishment, especially capital punishment.

    A condemned man has the right to know how the execution will proceed.

  2. deemed or declared unfit for use or service.

    One of the condemned buildings is going to be demolished to make room for luxury apartments.

  3. viewed or spoken of with strong disapproval; judged as wrong or unacceptable, often formally.

    Apartheid, by universal agreement, is an inhumane, unjust, and condemned practice.

  4. doomed to eternal punishment in hell; damned.

    At the Last Judgment, condemned sinners will offer excuses in vain.

noun

  1. Usually the condemned

    1. the person or persons pronounced guilty in a court of law and sentenced to punishment, especially capital punishment.

      We join in prayer for the condemned, his victim, and their families.

    2. the damned.

      The condemned are those who are full of themselves and laugh at their unrighteousness.

verb

  1. the simple past tense and past participle of condemn.

Other Word Forms

  • self-condemned adjective
  • uncondemned adjective

Etymology

Origin of condemned

condemn ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )

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.

The strike in Karaj and Trump's comments were also condemned by hardline, pro-establishment Iranians on social media.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

The 70-year-old US-born pope has so far shown diplomatic caution and has not directly condemned his home country's role in the turbulent Middle East region.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

“I lived in one of those houses that were condemned for the Santa Monica freeway,” he recalled of his last year of college.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

The Trevor Project, a crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, condemned the ruling.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

We had created a new community of formerly condemned prisoners in Alabama who had been illegally convicted or sentenced and received new trials or sentencing hearings.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

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.