v. 1
To strongly criticise or denounce; to excoriate.
The president condemned the terrorists.
v. 2
To judicially pronounce (someone) guilty.
v. 3
To destine to experience bad circumstances; to doom.
Too many people are condemned to a life of poverty.

Related words

Word family: condemnable condemnation

Forms

Past participle: condemned
e.g. condemned → denounced, blamed, decried, criticized…

Choose the right word

Condemn or Censure?

To condemn is to pass judicial sentence or render judgment or decision against. We may censure silently; we condemn ordinarily by open and formal utterance.

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

Example sentences

blame It sounds as if he were to blame for the disaster.
denounce The alterglobalists denounce growing inequalities.
disapprove I can tell from your expression that you disapprove.
convict The convict was pardoned after serving his sentence.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
condemn		steady
blame		rising
denounce		steady
disapprove		falling
decry		steady
convict		steady

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

By length

3 letters: pan¹
4 letters: damn¹, cast¹, fate¹, doom¹, deem¹
5 letters: judge¹, blame¹, curse¹, scold¹, decry²
6 letters: savage², rebuke²
7 letters: convict², censure², deplore², reprove, adjudge², upbraid²
8 letters: sentence², denounce², reproach², admonish³, execrate
9 letters: criticize³, criticise, reprimand³, reprobate³, castigate³, deprecate³, proscribe², excoriate⁴, preordain³
10 letters: disapprove³, confiscate³, foreordain

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (decry² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: condamner
Italiano: condannare
Español: condenar
Deutsch: verurteilen
Català: condemnar