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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 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 ² 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 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 The amendment, enforced by the Volstead Act, was repealed by another amendment to the Constitution in 1933.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

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Etymology

Origin of prohibition

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

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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

The San Francisco-based AI lab updated its usage policy to include "a prohibition on sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior toward our models."

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

His decision, which blocks the Texas attorney general from enforcing the law, noted that the prohibition was “an unconstitutional restriction on speech.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 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

Nor are streets, schools or government buildings named after him, a prohibition he imposed shortly after his guerrillas overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

"I voted against prohibition to please him, and because I like a little beer in the house, and then he talks that way. It's a wonder they ever find any one to marry them."

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

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

In the span of a single human lifetime — between the Gold Rush and Prohibition — we killed them all.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The council said significant evidence of mouse activity was found by officers who went to the site on 11 November, 2024, and it led to a a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice being served.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

It appears the nearly 80-year-old president confused the infamous Prohibition agent with Kevin Costner’s portrayal of Ness in the 1987 film “The Untouchables.”

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

“You are not a believer in Prohibition, Monsieur Hardman,” said M. Bouc with a smile.

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

"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

They really are totally uncontroversial, and both clauses were seen as, like, these original anti-corruption, anti-grifting prohibitions, and were largely just observed.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

The state also has widespread prohibitions on several rodenticide ingredients.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

In ancient Athens many prohibitions of consumption in order to allow the productive capital to first attain a certain height.

From Principles of Political Economy, Vol. II by Wilhelm Roscher

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