Condemn

//kənˈdɛm// verb

verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To strongly criticise or denounce; to excoriate. transitive

    "The president condemned the terrorists."

  2. 2
    declare or judge unfit for use or habitation wordnet
  3. 3
    To judicially pronounce (someone) guilty. transitive
  4. 4
    express strong disapproval of wordnet
  5. 5
    To judicially announce a verdict upon a finding of guilt; To sentence transitive

    "The judge condemned him to death."

Show 13 more definitions
  1. 6
    pronounce a sentence on (somebody) in a court of law wordnet
  2. 7
    To confer eternal divine punishment upon. transitive
  3. 8
    demonstrate the guilt of (someone) wordnet
  4. 9
    To destine to experience bad circumstances; to doom. figuratively, transitive

    "Too many people are condemned to a life of poverty."

  5. 10
    appropriate (property) for public use wordnet
  6. 11
    To declare something to be unfit for use, or further use. transitive

    "There was a massive slaughter of W.R. steam power at the conclusion of the summer timetable. In all, 169 locomotives were condemned."

  7. 12
    compel or force into a particular state or activity wordnet
  8. 13
    To declare something to be unfit for use, or further use.; To adjudge (a building) as being unfit for habitation. transitive

    "The house was condemned after it was badly damaged by fire."

  9. 14
    To declare something to be unfit for use, or further use.; To adjudge (building or construction work) as of unsatisfactory quality, requiring the work to be redone. transitive
  10. 15
    To declare something to be unfit for use, or further use.; To adjudge (food or drink) as being unfit for human consumption. transitive
  11. 16
    To declare something to be unfit for use, or further use.; To declare (a vessel) to be unfit for service. transitive
  12. 17
    To determine and declare (property) to be assigned to public use. See eminent domain. transitive
  13. 18
    To declare (a vessel) to be forfeited to the government or to be a prize. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
convictdamndoomexcoriateobjurgatesentence

Example

More examples

"The doctors were wrong to condemn the couple."

Etymology

From Middle English condempnen, from Old French condamner, from Latin condemnāre (“to sentence, condemn, blame”), from com- + damnāre (“to harm, condemn, damn”), from damnum (“damage, injury, loss”). Displaced native Middle English fordemen (from Old English fordeman (“condemn, sentence, doom”) > Modern English fordeem.

Related phrases

condemn toeminent domain

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.