Meaning & use
criminalization
The act of making a particular action or behavior illegal, subjecting it to legal punishment.
See it in a sentence
The criminalization of jaywalking varies widely between different cities and countries.
Lawmakers debated the criminalization of certain online gambling activities for months.
A note on using this word
Criminalization refers to the legal process of banning something, not to the moral judgment of whether it is wrong.
Words with a similar meaning
This term is best learned through its definition and examples.
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
decriminalizationlegalization
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