criminalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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criminalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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criminalized,
past participle, past
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criminalizing
present participle
verb
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to make (an action or activity) criminal
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to treat (a person) as a criminal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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criminalizesimple
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criminalizessimple
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have criminalizedperfect
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has criminalizedperfect
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am criminalizingprogressive
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are criminalizingprogressive
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is criminalizingprogressive
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have been criminalizingperfect progressive
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has been criminalizingperfect progressive
Past
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criminalizedsimple
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had criminalizedperfect
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was criminalizingprogressive
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were criminalizingprogressive
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had been criminalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of criminalize
Vocabulary lists containing criminalize
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.
See Examples For:
Congress can certainly criminalize smuggling directed at our shores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
Elham Jalayer, harm reduction director with the social services group Bienestar, said a fence would further criminalize the homeless and give the city an excuse to push people out of the neighborhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2025
But criminalizing parody opens up enough dangerous doors that even the most self-interested people who oppose it are onto something, and it sure does seem like this law could criminalize parody.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2025
It may seem that efforts to criminalize speech will be constitutionally dead on arrival.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2024
"If you criminalize them, they're less likely to come to the medical establishment."
From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2024
The court didn’t reach Louisiana’s separate argument that the Comstock Act criminalizes the mailing of mifepristone, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t embrace that claim later too.
From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2026
Approximately 45 states, including New Jersey, have passed legislation that criminalizes AI-generated or modified images of this kind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
Since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled a possible prison term and headed with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum.
From Seattle Times ● May 15, 2024
It criminalizes the destruction of evidence - like records or documents.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2024
Texas also criminalizes the exploitation of children and the elderly, defined as illegal or improperly using someone for monetary or personal benefit.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2023
But under any criminalized model, there is inherently exploitation and people don’t feel safe accessing justice.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
This process is what led to the Pentagon Papers, and allowing it to be criminalized in the way that it was against Villarreal would make the service of journalism impossible.
From Slate ● Mar. 26, 2026
He was also gay at a time when homosexuality was criminalized in Britain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
In 1988, under pressure from Washington, Bolivia passed Law 1008, which criminalized all coca cultivation outside a designated zone in the Yungas.
From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2025
Her trial's likely to prove rather interesting, however, as she only commits "crimes" in areas of social activity that haven't even been defined yet, much less successfully criminalized.
From The Cyberpunk Fakebook by St. Jude
Lawmaker Reimont Luiz Otoni Santa Barbara has introduced the "Red Pill Bill," aimed at criminalizing content that he says promotes violence against women.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
Article 133 covers dishonorable conduct, while Article 134 is the catchall provision criminalizing conduct that is harmful to good order and discipline or brings discredit on the armed forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, for example, rejected criminalizing homelessness as “backwards” in June 2024.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2025
But criminalizing parody opens up enough dangerous doors that even the most self-interested people who oppose it are onto something, and it sure does seem like this law could criminalize parody.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2025
The state refused to step in to aid the movie companies by criminalizing the new technology.
From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by Boyle, James
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.
