Proscribe

//pɹəˈskɹaɪb// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To forbid or prohibit. transitive

    "The law proscribes driving a car while intoxicated."

  2. 2
    command against wordnet
  3. 3
    To denounce. transitive

    "The word ‘ain't’ is proscribed by many authorities."

  4. 4
    To banish or exclude. transitive

    "Many Roman citizens were proscribed for taking part in rebellions."

Synonyms

All synonyms
forbidprohibitanathematizeattaintbanbanish

Example

More examples

"The church does not proscribe monarchy and prescribe democracy, or proscribe democracy and prescribe monarchy."

Etymology

From Middle English proscriben, from Latin prōscrībō (“to proclaim, forbid, banish”).

More for "proscribe"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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