kənˈdem transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English condempnen, from Old French condemner, condempner, from Latin condemnare, from com- + -demnare (from damnare to condemn) — more at damn
1. : to pronounce as ill-advised, reprehensible, wrong, or evil typically after definitive judgment and without reservation or mitigation
no conceivable human action which custom has not at one time justified and at another condemned — J.W.Krutch
condemn poetry equally with sex as something at best flippant and at worst immoral — C.D.Lewis
2. : to declare the guilt of : make manifest the faults of : attest to the guilt of
his words condemn him
3.
a. : to pronounce a judicial sentence against : sentence to punishment or to suffering or loss : doom — often used with to
driven out from bliss, condemned in this abhorred deep to utter woe — John Milton
b. : to force, compel, or limit to an action or state
the logic of his being a scientist condemns him to abstraction
4. : to consign to perdition : damn — often used imperatively as a mild oath
5. archaic : to pronounce or find guilty : convict — used with of
till forging Nature be condemn'd of treason — Shakespeare
6. : to adjudge or pronounce to be unfit for use or service : adjudge or pronounce to be forfeited
jurisdiction to condemn the ship and her cargo
7. : to block up (as a door) : close permanently
8. : to pronounce to be taken for public use under the right of eminent domain
Synonyms: see criticize