sanctioned

[sangk-shuhnd]

adjective

1. authorized, approved, or allowed.

   Locke's main argument was that unlimited accumulation of wealth was moral, religiously sanctioned, and logical.

2. officially or formally ratified or confirmed.

   The event is run exclusively in association with the National Franchise Association, so participating franchisees have all met the NFA-sanctioned code of ethics.

3. penalized, especially by way of discipline or to force compliance with legal obligations.

   The embargo had no real impact—but how often have we ever seen a sanctioned political leader say, “OK, I guess I’ll give in now”?

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of sanction.

Other Word Forms

• nonsanctioned adjective
• quasi-sanctioned adjective
• unsanctioned adjective
• well-sanctioned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sanctioned¹

sanction ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

With a sanctioned strength of 160 that experts say has never been completely filled, the court is severely understaffed.

From BBC

County prosecutors had charged that Landa-Rodriguez, while incarcerated in a federal penitentiary for illegally reentering the country, sanctioned the killing of a rival’s underling.

From Los Angeles Times

Now we have already proscribed and sanctioned Hamas, and we will go further.

From BBC

We have found links between the secret network and Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor - sanctioned by the US for "the Kremlin's malign influence operations" and now a fugitive in Moscow.

From BBC

Ministers point to the fact the government has now suspended some arms export licences to Israel, sanctioned some Israeli ministers, and moved to recognise a Palestinian state.

From BBC

Related Words

• accepted 
• allowed 
• approved www.thesaurus.com
• licensed www.thesaurus.com
• permitted