prohibition

noun

pro·​hi·​bi·​tion ˌprō-ə-ˈbi-shən 

also

ˌprō-hə- 

1

: the act of prohibiting by authority

2

: an order to restrain or stop

3

often Prohibition : the forbidding by law of the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic liquors except for medicinal and sacramental purposes

Synonyms of prohibition

• banning
• prohibiting

Examples of prohibition in a Sentence

the city's prohibition of smoking in restaurants

a prohibition against parking on the street

Recent Examples on the Web

The original versions of both ROAD to Housing and Housing for the 21st Century did not include such prohibitions. —Zach Halaschak, The Washington Examiner, 2 Mar. 2026

Altman argued in a post on X that OpenAI’s deal includes the same core safety guardrails Anthropic had demanded, including a prohibition on using the tech for domestic mass surveillance and requiring human responsibility for use of force, such as autonomous weapon deployment. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2026

More broadly, the moment marked a shift away from decades of strict prohibition and criminalization and towards legal acceptance and medical legitimacy. —Lauren Micalizzi, STAT, 2 Mar. 2026

But the dustup goes much deeper than those two prohibitions. —Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 28 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing prohibition

• writ of prohibition

Rhymes for prohibition

• abolition
• acquisition
• admonition
• ammunition
• apparition
• apposition
• coalition
• competition
• composition
• definition
• deglutition
• demolition

Kids Definition

prohibition

noun

pro·​hi·​bi·​tion ˌprō-ə-ˈbish-ən 

1

: the act of prohibiting

2

: an order forbidding something

3

often capitalized : the forbidding by law of the sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages

Legal Definition

prohibition

noun

pro·​hi·​bi·​tion ˌprō-ə-ˈbi-shən 

1

a

: an extraordinary writ issued by a higher court commanding an inferior court to keep within its proper jurisdiction (as by ceasing a prosecution)

b

: an order to refrain or stop

2

a

: something (as a law) that prohibits a certain act or procedure

b

capitalized : the period from 1920 to 1933 in the U.S. when the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic liquors was prohibited by the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

prohibitive

prō-ˈhi-bə-tiv 

adjective

prohibitively adverb

prohibitory

-ˈhi-bə-ˌtōr-ē 

adjective