Felonize

//ˈfɛlənaɪz// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To classify a crime as a felony.

    "January 2015 The War on Drugs Is Burning Out Rolling Stone Prop 47 also de-felonized nonviolent theft of less than $950."

  2. 2
    To classify a person as a felon.

    "June 2018 California Experience Drove Principal to Teach Rio Grande Sun Archuleta tells his most difficult students that they will be principals one day. “They look at me like, ‘Huh? You’re crazy,’” he said. “A lot of me really feels it. Because I’m them. It was fortunate that my activism didn’t get me felonized, because I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.” He believes his life is a credit to Jesus."

Example

More examples

"January 2015 The War on Drugs Is Burning Out Rolling Stone Prop 47 also de-felonized nonviolent theft of less than $950."

Etymology

From felony + -ize.

Related phrases

de-felonizere-felonize

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