EN

Synonyms for ban

  • noun
  • verb

Most common

prohibition proscription embargo curse hart hartley forbidding

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

1. Prohibition

prohibition, proscription, embargo, curse, sanction, anathema, taboo, interdiction, denunciation, execration, malediction, fulmination rare

2. Hart

hart, hartley, dit

3. Forbidding

forbidding, forbiddance rare

Other

damn, ex-communication, bannum rare

Verb

1. Forbid — to prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation

forbid, prohibit, disallow, proscribe, interdict, bar

2. Banish

banish, ostracize UK US, ostracise UK, cast out, shun, blackball

Other

censor, execrate rare

Antonyms

permit, allow, authorize

All antonyms of ban →

Definitions

  1. n. 1

    A prohibition.

  2. n. 2

    A public proclamation or edict; also, a summons by public proclamation, and in early use especially a summons to arms.

  3. v. 1

    To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.

    Bare feet are banned in this establishment.

  4. v. 2

    To anathematize; to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon; to place under a ban.

Related words

Word family
banner banns

Forms

Plural
bans → prohibitions, proscriptions, embargoes, curses…
Past participle
banned
e.g. banned → forbidden, prohibited, disallowed, proscribed…

Choose the right word

Ban or Banish?

Banish, primarily to put under ban, to compel by authority to leave a place or country, perhaps with restriction to some other place or country.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • prohibition Drugs are vilified for the problems of prohibition.
  • sanction They will not sanction copying without permission.
  • embargo The US never imposed a trade embargo on Algeria.
  • damn I'm sorry, but I'm not paid enough to give a damn.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
bansteady
prohibitionfalling
sanctionfalling
embargofalling
proscriptionfalling
damnrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters
bar1, dit
4 letters
damn1, hart1, shun1
5 letters
curse1, taboo2
6 letters
forbid2, censor2, banish2, bannum
7 letters
hartley2, embargo3
8 letters
prohibit3, sanction2, anathema4, disallow3, execrate
9 letters
interdict3, blackball2, proscribe2, ostracize3, ostracise
10 letters
forbidding3, execration
11 letters
prohibition4, malediction, fulmination, forbiddance
12 letters
interdiction4, denunciation5, proscription3

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (taboo2 = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français
interdiction
Italiano
divieto