condemn
Americanverb (used with object)
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condemns,
present (3rd person singular)
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condemned,
past participle, past
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condemning
present participle
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to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure.
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to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment.
to condemn a murderer to life imprisonment.
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to give grounds or reason for convicting or censuring.
His acts condemn him.
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to judge or pronounce to be unfit for use or service.
to condemn an old building.
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U.S. Law. to acquire ownership of for a public purpose, under the right of eminent domain.
The city condemned the property.
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to force into a specific state or activity.
His lack of education condemned him to a life of menial jobs.
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to doom to eternal punishment in hell.
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to declare incurable.
verb
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to express strong disapproval of; censure
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to pronounce judicial sentence on
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to demonstrate the guilt of
his secretive behaviour condemned him
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to judge or pronounce unfit for use
that food has been condemned
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to compel or force into a particular state or activity
his disposition condemned him to boredom
Synonym Usage
See blame.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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condemnationnoun
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condemnernoun
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condemnornoun
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recondemnverb (used with object)
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condemnableadjective
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self-condemningadjective
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uncondemnableadjective
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uncondemningadjective
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condemnablyadverb
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condemninglyadverb
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uncondemninglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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condemnsimple
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condemnssimple
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have condemnedperfect
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has condemnedperfect
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am condemningprogressive
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are condemningprogressive
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is condemningprogressive
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have been condemningperfect progressive
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has been condemningperfect progressive
Past
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condemnedsimple
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had condemnedperfect
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was condemningprogressive
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were condemningprogressive
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had been condemningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of condemn
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English condempnen, from Anglo-French, Old French condem(p)ner, from Latin condemnāre; see con-, damn
Explanation
You can condemn, or openly criticize, someone who is behaving inappropriately. If you are an animal rights activist, you would probably condemn someone for wearing fur. Condemn originally comes, through Old French, from the Latin word condemnāre, "to sentence, condemn." You may see politicians condemn each other in political ads during a campaign in hopes of improving their chances of winning an election. You also might hear of a convict being "condemned to death." In this sense of the word, to condemn still carries on its Latin meaning of "to sentence."
Vocabulary lists containing condemn
List 3
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The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act V
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The growing use of jet-propelled and other varieties of drones prompted President Volodymyr Zelensky to condemn what he called an unfolding "horror" over the skies of Kyiv.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
“Andrew and Channel 5 strongly condemn memecoins and want nothing to do with them.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
She said the point is not to sell or condemn AI.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
The resulting civilian casualties led the United Nations to condemn both sides last week.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
I condemn myself in so many ways that I’m beginning to realize the truth of Father’s adage: “Every child has to raise itself.”
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
"The organisation condemns these unjustified and disproportionate proceedings and calls for the immediate release of the French media professionals."
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Hamawy has said he condemns Abdel-Rahman’s violent rhetoric and actions and that he had no contact with the cleric after his arrest.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Weeks before the elections, Meloni released videos in multiple languages saying the Italian right “unambiguously” condemns the fascist regime’s suppression of democracy and antisemitic policies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
The United Nations said on Friday it "strongly condemns any attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur", adding it could not verify details due to restricted access to the area.
From Barron's ● May 24, 2026
It is that which condemns the tragic character to his walking death.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Iran's foreign ministry condemned the attack on its oil tankers as "an overt threat to regional and international peace and security," saying that they "increase the dangers of tensions in the region".
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
The government condemned "the intimidating and thuggish behaviour" of the protesters, many of whom were dressed in black and wore masks.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
It condemned illegal tapping and siphoning, warning that such activities put lives, the environment and the economy at risk.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The contradiction condemned the Founders’ behavior, not the principle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
It was Louis Sullivan who first and most loudly condemned the fair’s influence on architecture, but only late in his life and long after Burnham’s death.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
On Friday, all the parties in the Ceuta local assembly signed a declaration condemning violence.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Kushner drafted a statement condemning the Capitol violence that the White House never issued.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
Gandhi had staged a sit-in protest on Tuesday, accusing the government of ignoring students demands and condemning a police crackdown on demonstrations in New Delhi a day earlier.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
We hear an excerpt from a review by William Logan, poetry’s dean of critical defenestration, condemning her work for its pretty plainness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Obviously, discovering the truth was not the most important thing when it came to condemning Catherine O’Leary and the firefighters.
From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
