as in prohibited
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as in outlawed
to make or declare contrary to the law
wanted to criminalize an activity that the mountaineers had been engaging in for generations
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Recent Examples of criminalized
Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 24 Mar. 2026
Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former Venezuelan diplomat who denounced his own government at the International Criminal Court, described Venezuela as a criminalized state dominated by narcotrafficking networks.
—Solly Boussidan , Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 7 Dec. 2025
Jennifer Bisram, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
Hegseth wants to reform the military chaplain corps Hegseth’s church network, the CREC, preaches a patriarchal form of Christianity, where women cannot serve in leadership, and pastors argue that homosexuality should be criminalized.
—Tiffany Stanley, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
Eagan police detective Chad Clausen, who testified in favor of the bill, pointed out that 12 other states have already criminalized grooming.
—Mary Murphy, Twin Cities, 18 Mar. 2026
They were followed by a sweeping security crackdown that criminalized dissent and reshaped the city’s legal system.
—Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Possession of cannabis for personal use is criminalized and can result in a prison sentence of between three months and two years, or a fine.
—ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026
Open criticism of the war was criminalized early on.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 24 Feb. 2026
Middleton, an oil and gas executive, criticized Roy for pushing back against a GOP bill in Congress that would have criminalized providing hormone therapy to minors.
—Dallas Morning News, 17 Feb. 2026
Many legal cannabis ventures enrich hedge funds and politicians, and relatively few benefits accrue to the people who suffered jail time or worse when the drug was criminalized in every state.
—Ezra Marcus, Vulture, 11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
But first McCarty needed a sense of how many women were imprisoned at Mabel Bassett for crimes tied to their own abuse — a phenomenon that sentencing-reform advocates call criminalized survivorship.
—Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 24 Mar. 2026
Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former Venezuelan diplomat who denounced his own government at the International Criminal Court, described Venezuela as a criminalized state dominated by narcotrafficking networks.
—Solly Boussidan , Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 7 Dec. 2025
Verb
The Coalition for the Homeless says the city's unhoused are often dehumanized and criminalized.
—Jennifer Bisram, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
Hegseth wants to reform the military chaplain corps Hegseth’s church network, the CREC, preaches a patriarchal form of Christianity, where women cannot serve in leadership, and pastors argue that homosexuality should be criminalized.
—Tiffany Stanley, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
Eagan police detective Chad Clausen, who testified in favor of the bill, pointed out that 12 other states have already criminalized grooming.
—Mary Murphy, Twin Cities, 18 Mar. 2026
They were followed by a sweeping security crackdown that criminalized dissent and reshaped the city’s legal system.
—Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Possession of cannabis for personal use is criminalized and can result in a prison sentence of between three months and two years, or a fine.
—ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026
Open criticism of the war was criminalized early on.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 24 Feb. 2026
Middleton, an oil and gas executive, criticized Roy for pushing back against a GOP bill in Congress that would have criminalized providing hormone therapy to minors.
—Dallas Morning News, 17 Feb. 2026
Many legal cannabis ventures enrich hedge funds and politicians, and relatively few benefits accrue to the people who suffered jail time or worse when the drug was criminalized in every state.
—Ezra Marcus, Vulture, 11 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for criminalized
Adjective
-
There is, however, room for questions about where the line between prohibited and acceptable political involvement will fall in practice.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
11 July 2025
-
The list of prohibited and restricted items, as found on the CBP website, includes alcohol, biological materials, firearms, food and produce such as fruits and vegetables, soil, wildlife, fish, and gold, among other items.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Feb. 2025
Verb
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While the form of THC found in marijuana, known as delta-9, was already outlawed, the ban did not not cover forms of THC that were derived from the hemp plant.—
Steven Rosenbaum,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
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In 2018, the state legislature passed a law that outlawed the possession and sale of bump stocks, along with trigger cranks and devices that make the gun operate like an automatic weapon.—
Christopher Keating,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Less than an hour’s drive from the holiday markets, on the way to Salla and its forbidden frontier, hundreds of Finnish soldiers are training to repel any future Russian invasion.—
Liam Denning,
Bloomberg,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Women, whether secular or religious, remain forbidden to read, write or tell stories.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Eco effort The resort has officially banned a long list of items with potential to harm the surrounding environment, from Styrofoam to plastic straws.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
-
In addition, Russia has been banned from participating in the contest since 2022 over its ongoing war against Ukraine.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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In March 2023, Duggar’s release date was extended by nearly two months over a contraband cellphone.—
Assistant Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The documentary, from filmmakers behind HBO’s The Jinx, was shot over six years on contraband phones by the men who risked their lives to participate in this film, which unearthed over 1,300 deaths of people in custody inside Alabama correctional facilities between 2019 and 2024.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The motions of stellar streams contain clues to how our barred spiral galaxy evolved over billions of years, including through collisions with other galactic realms.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
26 Feb. 2026
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One of the videos shows a group of men celebrating in a lighted hall, with barred cells on each side.—
Nora Gámez Torres,
Miami Herald,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Criminalized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/criminalized. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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