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

There are concerted efforts to ban such devices, but they are still used with depressing frequency.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 12 Oct. 2026
In April 2022, Congress passed the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act, banning imports of Russian energy products.

— ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of ban

Verb

Federal law prohibits the commercial sale of unapproved drugs, but that hasn't stopped vendors from selling imitation versions of the experimental drug online at a scale with no modern precedent.

— Daniel Gilbert, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
Believe it or not, the license prohibits that in the Beach Boys.

— Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of prohibit

Noun

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
In the decade of violent conflicts that followed, attacks on border towns and seizures of American property by revolutionaries and bandits prompted the United States to send two military expeditions into Mexico.

— Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of bandit

Verb

If protests at the killing of children are criminalized, what is left to protest?

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
For example, Scalia famously cast the deciding vote in 1989 to hold unconstitutional a law criminalizing burning the American flag despite being a big patriot and despising such activities.

— Brian Fitzpatrick, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of criminalize

Noun

Still, a criminal may combine those details with passwords, PINs or other information stolen elsewhere.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.

— Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 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 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of outlaw

verb

noun

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