black list

Idioms  

1. A list of persons or things considered undesirable or deserving punishment, as in Japanese beetles are on my black list of garden pests. The practice of making such lists is quite old. Notorious examples include the late 19th-century black lists of union members whom employers would not hire and the black lists of persons suspected of being Communists as a result of the hearings held by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in the early 1950s. Today the term is also used more loosely, as in the example. [Early 1600s] Also see black book, def. 1.

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Example Sentences

Saturated fat has been taken off the black list.

From Barron's • Jan. 7, 2026

Myanmar, Iran and North Korea are the only countries on the group's "black list".

From Reuters • Jun. 24, 2023

She believes her name is on a "black list" which makes her nervous about going home.

From BBC • Jun. 18, 2023

North Korea and Iran remain the only two countries on the FATF’s high-risk black list.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 21, 2021

Some captains with less inventive genius are much more cruel than was our friend Jerry in their black list punishments.”

From The Three Lieutenants by Webb, Archibald

Related Words

• censure
• criticism
• denunciation
• discontent
• dislike
• displeasure
• dissatisfaction
• objection