illegalize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of illegalize
Explanation
To illegalize something is to make it illegal, or to announce that it's against the law. When a city's police set a new curfew, they illegalize kids and teenagers being out at night. The verb illegalize is a somewhat informal way to say "make something illegal." Your town might illegalize smoking in public places or your state senators could vote to illegalize dog fighting. In either case, something previously allowed is being made illegal. It's considered better grammar to say "make illegal," or even "criminalize," since illegalize is a relatively new verb constructed from illegal, "against the law," and the verb-forming suffix ize.
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:
Which leaves us with one moral option: illegalize it, the whole operation.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 4, 2016
Or we illegalize the thing we do not want others to do.
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 7 Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Orators by Hubbard, Elbert
Clearly, Amazon must be illegalized too, and its 33,000 employees told to clean out their desks.
From Forbes ● Apr. 22, 2011
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.
