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Synonyms

condemned

American  
[kuhn-demd] / kənˈdɛmd /

adjective

  1. pronounced guilty; sentenced to punishment, especially capital punishment.

    A condemned man has the right to know how the execution will proceed.

  2. deemed or declared unfit for use or service.

    One of the condemned buildings is going to be demolished to make room for luxury apartments.

  3. viewed or spoken of with strong disapproval; judged as wrong or unacceptable, often formally.

    Apartheid, by universal agreement, is an inhumane, unjust, and condemned practice.

  4. doomed to eternal punishment in hell; damned.

    At the Last Judgment, condemned sinners will offer excuses in vain.

noun

  1. Usually the condemned

    1. the person or persons pronounced guilty in a court of law and sentenced to punishment, especially capital punishment.

      We join in prayer for the condemned, his victim, and their families.

    2. the damned.

      The condemned are those who are full of themselves and laugh at their unrighteousness.

verb

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

Other Word Forms

  • self-condemned adjective
  • uncondemned adjective

Etymology

Origin of condemned

condemn ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )

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.

Instead of taking a stance of trollish defiance, they condemned the president.

From Slate • Apr. 15, 2026

In a news conference in March, just days before being named foreign secretary, Velasco condemned the deaths of Mexican citizens in U.S. custody as “painful, heartrending, and absolutely unacceptable for the government of Mexico.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

If the road is condemned, taxpayers could be on the hook for a new one, plus utilities.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Volker Turk, the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the attacks, saying the numbers killed and injured were appalling.

From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026

The release of Diane Jones, a condemned lifer, gave hope to all of the other lifers at Tutwiler.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

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.