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• prohibition
  prohibition

  noun

  the act of prohibiting.
• Prohibition
  Prohibition

  noun

  the period (1920–33) when the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors was banned by constitutional amendment in the US

prohibition

American  

[proh-uh-bish-uhn] / ˌproʊ əˈbɪʃ ən /

noun

• prohibitions
  plural

1. the act of prohibiting.

2. the legal prohibiting of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks for common consumption.

3. Often Prohibition the period (1920–33) when the Eighteenth Amendment was in force and alcoholic beverages could not legally be manufactured, transported, or sold in the United States.

4. a law or decree that forbids.

   Synonyms:

   interdiction

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Prohibition ¹ British  

/ ˌprəʊɪˈbɪʃən /

noun

1. the period (1920–33) when the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors was banned by constitutional amendment in the US

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prohibition ² British  

/ ˌprəʊɪˈbɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of prohibiting or state of being prohibited

2. an order or decree that prohibits

3. (sometimes capital) (esp in the US) a policy of legally forbidding the manufacture, transportation, sale, or consumption of alcoholic beverages except for medicinal or scientific purposes

4. law an order of a superior court (in Britain the High Court) forbidding an inferior court to determine a matter outside its jurisdiction

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Prohibition Cultural  

1. The outlawing of alcoholic beverages nationwide from 1920 to 1933, under an amendment to the Constitution. The amendment, enforced by the Volstead Act, was repealed by another amendment to the Constitution in 1933.

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Usage

When was Prohibition? Prohibition refers to a period in American history when the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was made illegal. The law, which was created by the Eighteenth Amendment (ratified in 1918) to the United States Constitution and subsequently reversed by the Twenty-first Amendment (ratified in 1933), proved largely unpopular.

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Prohibition is often mentioned in discussions of how much social change can be brought about through law, because alcohol was widely, though illegally, produced and sold during Prohibition; it was served privately in the White House under President Warren Harding, for example.

Many use the example of Prohibition to argue that more harm than good comes from the enactment of laws that are sure to be widely disobeyed.

Some states and localities (called “dry”) had outlawed the production and sale of alcohol before the Prohibition amendment was adopted. The repealing amendment allowed individual states and localities to remain “dry,” and some did for many years.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Prohibitionist
  noun
• nonprohibition
  noun
• preprohibition
  noun
• antiprohibition
  adjective
• prohibitionary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• prohibitions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of prohibition

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Latin prohibitiōn-, stem of prohibitiō “prevention”; equivalent to prohibit + -ion

Explanation

Prohibition is the act of forbidding or outlawing something, like when my mom placed a prohibition on watching TV during dinner (causing everyone to skip dinner). Prohibition can also refer to one of the most famous acts of prohibition in United States history: the outlawing of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. During this period, known as the "Prohibition Era" or just "Prohibition" for short, people continued to obtain alcohol via illegal means. As a result, the Prohibition Era is a perfect illustration of a major challenge associated with most acts of prohibition: enforcement.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prohibition Prohibition prohibitions

This included what was, in effect, a prohibition on them becoming MPs.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

These tariffs were set at 12.5% for countries without any formal prohibition on forced labor imports, and 10% for all other countries with such a prohibition.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

But you don’t win a platform war on defense, and prohibition here is worse than useless.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

“Law enforcement has good intentions but they sometimes backfire with unintended consequences. Often, the more laws you create to prevent people from having a reptile, the more they want them. But sometimes prohibition does work.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Einstein’s prohibition against traveling faster than light may clash with our common sense.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Stevens digs into the drink’s history and tells a fascinating tale about Prohibition and the delicious outcome of cultural fusion between the U.S. and Mexico.

From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2026

A Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice was served and the store was closed immediately, the council said.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

The first of the Times’s 2014 editorial series was titled “Repeal Prohibition Again.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

The novel follows Mary Hatcher, a Pomo Indian in Sonoma County, from Prohibition through the 21st century.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Of all the many colorful and unique characters associated with the era of Prohibition, few were more charismatic or more unforgettable than Billy Sunday—one of the nation’s most passionate champions of the temperance movement.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

Mazariegos said homeless prevention starts with enforcing a “huge list” of the city’s tenant rights laws, including rent control and prohibitions against landlords harassing tenants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

"The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy. The delegation is smaller than last year."

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The tariff changes will take effect Sept. 15, while the trade prohibitions are set to kick in on Sept. 29.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

He said that Canada was also maintaining its "prolonged retaliation" against the United States, including prohibitions on certain American goods and services.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

Episcopal prohibitions to receive new inmates without special licence were very common, especially in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.

From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Eileen Power

Related Words

• constraint
• embargo
• exclusion
• injunction
• prevention
• proscription
• restriction
• taboo
• veto