con ‧ demn /kənˈdem/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: condemner , from Latin condemnare , from com- ( ⇨ COM- ) + damnare ( , ↑ damn 4 ) ]
1 . DISAPPROVE to say very strongly that you do not approve of something or someone, especially because you think it is morally wrong:
Politicians were quick to condemn the bombing.
condemn something/somebody as something
The law has been condemned as an attack on personal liberty.
condemn somebody/something for (doing) something
She knew that society would condemn her for leaving her children.
2 . PUNISH to give someone a severe punishment after deciding they are guilty of a crime
condemn somebody to something
He was found guilty and condemned to death.
3 . FORCE TO DO SOMETHING if a particular situation condemns someone to something, it forces them to live in an unpleasant way or to do something unpleasant
condemn somebody to (do) something
people condemned to a life of poverty
His occupation condemned him to spend long periods of time away from his family.
4 . NOT SAFE to state officially that something is not safe enough to be used:
an old house that had been condemned
condemn something as something
The pool was closed after being condemned as a health hazard.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adverbs
▪ strongly condemn something/somebody
This procedure was strongly condemned by the opposition.
▪ roundly condemn something/somebody (=very strongly and severely)
Last week’s violence was roundly condemned by foreign governments.
▪ be widely condemned (=by many people, groups etc)
The laws have been widely condemned by human rights groups.
▪ publicly/openly condemn something/somebody
Army officers openly condemned the war.
▪ unanimously condemn something/somebody (=with the agreement of all the people involved)
The committee unanimously condemned the idea.
▪ vehemently/vigorously/fiercely condemn something/somebody (=in a very strong or angry way)
The educational reforms were vehemently condemned by teachers.
▪ utterly/unequivocally condemn something/somebody (=very definitely and with no doubts)
We utterly condemn any acts of violence.
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THESAURUS
▪ criticize to say what you think is bad about someone or something:
He was criticized for not being tough enough with the terrorists.
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Stop criticizing my friends!
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It’s easy to criticize, but not so easy to offer helpful solutions.
▪ be critical of somebody/something to criticize someone or something, especially by giving detailed reasons for this:
The report was highly critical of the police investigation.
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The press have been critical of his leadership style.
▪ attack to criticize someone or something very strongly, especially publicly in the newspapers, on TV etc:
They attacked the government’s decision to undertake nuclear weapons tests.
▪ lay into somebody/tear into somebody to criticize someone very strongly for something they have done, especially by shouting at them:
He started laying into one of his staff for being late.
▪ tear somebody/something to shreds to find a lot of things wrong with someone’s arguments or ideas and make them seem very weak:
The prosecution will tear him to shreds.
▪ pan to strongly criticize a film, play etc in the newspapers, on TV etc:
Her first movie was panned by the critics.
▪ be pilloried especially written to be strongly criticized by a lot of people in the newspapers, on TV etc:
He was pilloried in the right-wing press.
▪ condemn to say very strongly in public that you do not approve of something or someone, especially because you think they are morally wrong:
Politicians were quick to condemn the bombing.