criminalization

American  

[kri-muh-nuh-lahy-zay-shuhn] / ˌkrɪ mə nə laɪˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act, by legislators, of making something punishable as a crime.

2. the process of turning someone into a criminal.

---

Explanation

Criminalization is the act of making something criminal, or making it against the law. When the U.S. Congress made it illegal to consume or sell alcohol in 1920, that criminalization of drinking ushered in a historic period known as Prohibition. Any activity can be criminalized, or go through a process of criminalization. When Sleeping Beauty's parents banished shuttlecocks and spinning wheels from their fairy tale kingdom, that was the criminalization of spinning. The word can also apply more generally to not just to the outlawed activity, but to people or practices associated with it. Thus, a law making it a crime to eat candy might be called "the criminalization of Halloween." And crime or not, that's just wrong.

Example Sentences

Since the announcement, there’s been an air of fear among advocates, outreach staff, and people sleeping outside about whether this would be a turning point in D.C.’s criminalization of homelessness.

From Slate • Sep. 1, 2025

Pregnancy Justice underscores how criminalization tends to sweep more and more broadly.

From Slate • Oct. 2, 2024

On Tuesday July 23, now-Deputy Prime Minister Charnvirakul announced that criminalization was called off; instead, the government agreed to go forward with regulation and would hold meetings with relevant stakeholders.

From Salon • Aug. 7, 2024

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who led the court’s liberal flank in attacking the criminalization of homeless people, struck a similar note.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2024

For starters, criminalization is plainly cruel because people experiencing homelessness have nowhere else to go.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 31, 2024