OUTLAW Synonyms: 132 Similar and Opposite Words

outlaw 1 of 2

verb

Definition of outlaw

as in to ban

to make or declare contrary to the law a push to outlaw smoking in all public buildings

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to prohibit

to order not to do or use or to be done or used fed up with the constant interruptions, the physician has outlawed all cell phone use from his office

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

outlaw

2 of 2

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of outlaw

Verb

Missouri would also still outlaw gender-affirming care for minors under a state law legislators passed in 2023. — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026 In somewhat bare-bones, cozy settings, Red Lobster became a middle-class family destination, and was welcoming to Black customers at a time when segregation, while outlawed, was still common in much of the American South. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026

Noun

Meanwhile Del Rey and Morgan Wallen will link up as MW and Delta Dawne, hosts of Back Country Radio, which specializes in classic and outlaw country music. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2026 The Josephs' home state of Tennessee, where the GOP has a lock on state government, is among a growing number looking to outlaw companies that own PBMs from also owning brick-and-mortar pharmacies, as CVS does. — Blake Farmer, NPR, 5 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for outlaw

Recent Examples of Synonyms for outlaw

Verb

In 2013, Facebook pushed updates to its Android app outside the Google Play store, prompting Google to ban the practice.

— Molly A. Wallace, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
Multiple states now restrict forever chemicals, with Minnesota last year banning the intentional addition of PFAS to 11 categories of consumer products, including dental floss.

— Margaret Hetherman The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of ban

Verb

The curfew prohibits anyone from entering or remaining on the Place de la République, where rioting took place Saturday, and the shopping neighborhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
If admiration and support for female athletes drive support for prohibiting transgender women from participating in women’s sports, then those who favor Title IX should also favor bans.

— Jesse Rhodes, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of prohibit

Noun

In The Death of Robin Hood, Hugh Jackman plays the bandit of Nottingham, aged and retired to a hermit's life in the wilderness.

— K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
The father pulls over, and the car is immediately swarmed over by bandits, who brutally kill him — plus his wife and two kids — with no mercy.

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of bandit

Verb

In February of this year, Luo’s lawyers asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that prosecutors were criminalizing settlement talks.

— Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
If protests at the killing of children are criminalized, what is left to protest?

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminalize

Verb

Reservoirs have already fallen perilously low -- with one lake so dry this year that a small town nearby let its Little League field go dry and temporarily forbade residents from washing cars or watering lawns.

— Hannah Knowles The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
The political math is forbidding for Kozycki, even as Republicans nationwide scramble to defend once-friendly territory.

— Greg Bluestein, AJC.com, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of forbid

Noun

That same month, criminals nabbed a $4 million diamond necklace from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK).

— Lianne Kolirin, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026
For decades, Hollywood actor Danny Trejo’s bread and butter was playing gangsters, prison inmates and other assorted criminals.

— Corky Siemaszko, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminal

Verb

Basis for the suit to illegalize the union, lawyers explained, is the difference in race between the participants.

— sandiegouniontribune.com, sandiegouniontribune.com, 28 Feb. 2018
Rather than negotiating a political agreement, Madrid decided to illegalize Basque political parties allegedly linked with terrorism and to prosecute their leaders.

— Sergi Pardos-Prado, Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2017

Definition of illegalize

Noun

Wild to me though that something that expensive would just be dropped off with porch pirates out there.

— Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Jamal convened a press conference proclaiming to be able to communicate by phone with Somali pirates who were holding a Nigerian ship hostage.

— Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of pirate

Browse Nearby Words

outlasts

outlaw

outlawed

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Outlaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outlaw. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of outlaw

verb

noun

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