blacklist

1 of 2

noun

black·​list ˈblak-ˌlist 

1

: a list of persons who are disapproved of or are to be punished or boycotted

2

: a list of banned or excluded things of disreputable character

a domain-name blacklist

… helped the government keep marijuana on the blacklist.

—Cynthia Cotts

blacklist

2 of 2

verb

blacklisted; blacklisting; blacklists

transitive verb

: to put on a blacklist

blacklister noun

Examples of blacklist in a Sentence

Noun

He's on the FBI's blacklist.

The rental company has created a blacklist of bad drivers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Pentagon on Monday added some of China’s biggest companies to a blacklist of firms accused of aiding Beijing’s military, a move likely to stir tensions between the superpowers. —J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 8 June 2026

The company’s semiconductor business has become increasingly important since Huawei was placed on a US trade blacklist in 2019. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 25 May 2026

Verb

But blacklisting a company for maintaining civil rights protections, and then banning the military deployment of its AI hours later, shows that the federal government in this instance enables the harm that regulation is meant to prevent. —Michael Gregory, The Conversation, 4 June 2026

The company's models were blacklisted by the Pentagon after negotiations between the two sides collapsed. —Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 1 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1702, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for blacklist

• assist
• booklist
• checklist
• consist
• desist
• dismissed
• enlist
• exist
• insist
• oocyst
• persist
• resist

Kids Definition

blacklist

noun

black·​list

ˈblak-ˌlist

: a list of persons who are disapproved of and are to be punished

blacklist verb