outlaw

American  

[out-law] / ˈaʊtˌlɔ /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Etymology

Origin of outlaw

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

Example Sentences

She was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity by a court in Dhaka in November, and her former ruling party, once the country's most popular, has been outlawed.

From Barron's

“It doesn’t have to be the James brothers. Pick another outlaw family.”

From Literature

The law also outlaws discrimination based on ethnicity and designates an important Kurdish holiday, Nowruz, as a national holiday.

From The Wall Street Journal

The new phase comes as the cryptocurrency company Tether and its eponymous token, once maligned as the stablecoin choice of outlaws, seek to gain acceptance in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal

Unlike McDonald, he didn’t buy into the outlaw code and was an FBI informant for at least two decades.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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