outlaw

[out-law]

noun

1. a lawless person or habitual criminal, especially one who is a fugitive from the law.

   Synonyms: brigand, bandit, desperado

2. a person, group, or thing excluded from the benefits and protection of the law.

3. a person under sentence of outlawry.

4. a person who refuses to be governed by the established rules or practices of any group; rebel; nonconformist.

   one of the outlaws of country music.

5. Chiefly Western U.S.

   1. a horse that cannot be broken; a mean, intractable horse.

   2. any rogue animal.

verb (used with object)

1. to make unlawful or illegal.

   The Eighteenth Amendment outlawed the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating beverages in the U.S.

2. to deprive of the benefits and protection of the law.

   Members of guerrilla bands who refused to surrender were outlawed.

3. to prohibit.

   to outlaw smoking in a theater.

   Synonyms: forbid, ban, proscribe

4. to remove from legal jurisdiction; deprive of legal force.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of an outlaw.

outlaw

/ ˈaʊtˌlɔː /

noun

1. (formerly) a person excluded from the law and deprived of its protection

2. any fugitive from the law, esp a habitual transgressor

3. a wild or untamed beast

verb

1. to put (a person) outside the law and deprive of its protection

2. (in the US) to deprive (a contract) of legal force

3. to ban

Other Word Forms

• self-outlaw noun
• self-outlawed adjective
• unoutlawed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of outlaw¹

before 1150; Middle English outlawe, Old English ūtlaga < Old Norse ūtlagi one outside the protection of the law; out, law ¹

Example Sentences

Once Bangladesh's largest political party, the Awami League has been outlawed since its leader Sheikh Hasina was overthrown in a mass uprising last year.

Read more on Barron's

The mobilisation order was reportedly issued via phone calls and text messages which said the aim was to "cleanse Gaza of outlaws and collaborators with Israel" and told fighters to report within 24 hours.

Read more on BBC

Add “therapists who help patients through dolphin encounters” to the federal bureaucracy’s list of societal outlaws.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Based in Salt Lake City, he’s long championed outlaw writers, western Americana and literary misfits — none more so than his late friend, Edward Abbey.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But Justice Clarence Thomas has argued for outlawing all use of race in drawing district lines, and the court may adopt his view in a pending dispute over a second Black majority district in Louisiana.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bandit 
• crook 
• desperado 
• fugitive 
• gangster 
• hoodlum 
• hooligan 
• marauder 
• mobster 
• outcast 
• pariah 
• robber