prohibition
noun
Simple meaning
A period of time when specific socially disapproved consumables are considered controlled substances.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prohuhbishuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹoʊəˈbɪʃən
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.
noun
A law prohibiting the manufacture or sale of alcohol.
A period of time when specific socially disapproved consumables are considered controlled substances.
The action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an instance thereof)
“They were restrained by a prohibition in their charter.”
US
The period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment
us
The period from 17 January 1920 through 5 December 1933 in the United States, between the effective dates of the Eighteenth and Twenty-First Amendments to the United States Constitution.
An act of prohibiting, forbidding, disallowing, or proscribing something.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A law prohibiting the manufacture or sale of alcohol.
Used this way, prohibition is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- prohibition era , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use prohibition
- “They were restrained by a prohibition in their charter.”noun
- “In 1920 the 18th amendment to the Constitution established prohibition in the US.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment.
A political party in the United States.
International organization for chemical disarmament.
A judicial writ from a higher court ordering a lower court not to exercise jurisdiction in a particular case.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: law prohibiting the manufacture or sale of alcohol
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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.