Meaning & use
prohibited
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Not allowed, because a law, rule, or authority forbids it.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: prohibited items, smoking is prohibited.
Patterns
- be prohibited
- prohibited from doing something
- prohibited by law
Smoking is prohibited in all public buildings.
Visitors are prohibited from entering the laboratory.
Carrying prohibited items onto a plane can lead to a fine.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of prohibit: officially stopped something from being done.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with from: the law prohibited drivers from texting.
Patterns
- prohibited someone from doing something
- prohibited something
The city prohibited fires in the park during the dry season.
A new rule prohibited students from using phones in class.
The contract prohibited him from working for a rival.
Word forms
| base form | prohibit |
|---|---|
| third person singular | prohibits |
| -ing form | prohibiting |
Common combinations
- strictly prohibited
- Photography is strictly prohibited inside the museum.
- prohibited by law
- Selling the product to minors is prohibited by law.
- prohibited items
- Knives are on the list of prohibited items.
- prohibited from entering
- Minors are prohibited from entering the bar.
- expressly prohibited
- Subletting is expressly prohibited in the lease.
Synonyms and how they differ
- forbidden
- Forbidden is more general and personal, as in a parent's rule, while prohibited usually comes from laws or official rules.
- banned
- Banned suggests an official ban on something that was once allowed or common.
- illegal
- Illegal means against the law, whereas prohibited can also come from a company or building rule.
- barred
- Barred is often used for people kept out of a place or activity.
Opposites
Word family
- prohibit verb
- to forbid officially
- prohibition noun
- an official ban
- prohibitive adjective
- so high that it stops people, as with prices
- prohibitory adjective
- forbidding or restricting
Commonly confused: prohibited or prohibitive?
prohibited vs prohibitive
Prohibitive describes a cost that is too high to pay, not something officially forbidden.
Practice
The sign read: Skateboarding is ___ in the plaza.
Choose one answer.
A sign stating that an activity is prohibited means it is forbidden. The other three words all suggest the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prohibited”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.