condemn
verb
Simple meaning
To judicially pronounce guilty.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhndehmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kənˈdɛm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To judicially pronounce (someone) guilty.
transitive
To strongly criticise or denounce; to excoriate.
transitive
To judicially announce a verdict upon a finding of guilt; To sentence
Demonstrate the guilt of (someone)
Declare or judge unfit for use or habitation
“The building was condemned by the inspector.”
Appropriate (property) for public use
“The county condemned the land to build a highway.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Declare or judge unfit for use or habitation
Used this way, condemn is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The building was condemned by the inspector.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- excoriate , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Declareverb
“The building was condemned by the inspector.”
Appropriateverb
“The county condemned the land to build a highway.”
More ways to use condemn
- “The building was condemned by the inspector.”verb
- “The county condemned the land to build a highway.”verb
- “He was condemned to ten years in prison.”verb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
An expression of strong disapproval.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.