What does "condone" mean?

To forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).

What is a synonym for "condone"?

Common synonyms include: excuse, abet, abide, abide with, accept, adjust.

//kənˈdoʊn// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Verb

1
To forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked). transitive
"‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police[…]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?"
2
excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with wordnet
3
To allow, accept or permit (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked). transitive
"Rule-utilitarianism is unlikely to condone torturing a child, but it does imply that the torturing of a child is less evil if the torturer shares his pleasure with other sadists-perhaps by inviting an audience, or broadcasting it on the Internet."
4
To forgive (marital infidelity or other marital offense). transitive

"The Catholic Church doesn't condone the use of condoms."

Learned borrowing from Latin condōnāre (“to forgive”).

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