as in to outlaw
to make or declare contrary to the law
wanted to criminalize an activity that the mountaineers had been engaging in for generations
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Recent Examples of criminalize
These ten cases illuminate governments’ efforts at criminalizing journalism, silencing the media, and withholding information from the public.
—
One Free Press Coalition, Time, 1 May 2025
If the executive is allowed to criminalize judicial management decisions under the guise of obstruction, the entire system of checks and balances will collapse.
—Andy J. Semotiuk, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
Disputed claims of 'genocide' in South Africa Genocide is defined in the Genocide Convention, an international treaty that criminalizes genocide, as the killing of members of a group because of their race, religion or national origin, as in the Holocaust.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 22 May 2025
Instead of addressing the state’s public health emergency, Georgia’s leaders have doubled down on cruel, dehumanizing policies that criminalize pregnancy and control women’s bodies.
—Jameelah Nasheed, Essence, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for criminalize
One Free Press Coalition, Time, 1 May 2025
If the executive is allowed to criminalize judicial management decisions under the guise of obstruction, the entire system of checks and balances will collapse.
—Andy J. Semotiuk, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
Disputed claims of 'genocide' in South Africa Genocide is defined in the Genocide Convention, an international treaty that criminalizes genocide, as the killing of members of a group because of their race, religion or national origin, as in the Holocaust.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 22 May 2025
Instead of addressing the state’s public health emergency, Georgia’s leaders have doubled down on cruel, dehumanizing policies that criminalize pregnancy and control women’s bodies.
—Jameelah Nasheed, Essence, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for criminalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for criminalize
Verb
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The following year, after California briefly outlawed the death penalty, their sentences were commuted to life with the possibility of parole.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
2 June 2025
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The Israeli government declared Kach to be a terrorist organization, effectively outlawing it.—
Gershom Gorenberg,
The Atlantic,
30 May 2025
Verb
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New technology in supersonic aircraft can allow the planes to fly faster than the speed of sound without a disruptive sonic boom being heard on the ground, but the regulations still ban those flights over land.—
JOSH FUNK,
Arkansas Online,
8 June 2025
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The Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. flights to Haiti in November of last year after gunfire struck three aircraft operated by Spirit Airlines, JetBlue and American Airlines.—
Marisa Garcia,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Criminalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/criminalize. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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