black list

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

In March, she received the Keith Alexander award from the Football Black List in recognition of her achievements as a pioneer and just two months later was given a lifetime achievement award at the 2024 Women's Football Awards.

From BBC

Established in 2005 as an annual list of the most-liked screenplays that hadn’t found homes, the Black List has since expanded from its humble beginnings into a Hollywood institution with more than 7,000 registered industry members.

From Los Angeles Times

Adding fiction to the Black List’s purview allows the site to address the growing overlap among the film, television, theater and publishing industries, said Leonard, the firm’s founder and chief executive, in an interview.

From Los Angeles Times

Randy Winston, former director of writing programs at the Center for Fiction, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based nonprofit, who will serve as the Black List’s creative director of fiction, said he is excited about “romantasy” submissions, a popular genre that combines romance and fantasy elements.

From Los Angeles Times

Franklin Leonard’s the Black List, a platform that highlights the best unproduced scripts for film, television and theater, is expanding into the world of fiction.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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