criminalise

C3R1I1M3I1N1A1L1I1S1E1

A form of criminalize — To make (something) a crime; to make illegal under criminal law; to ban.

UncommonScrabble 15

Meanings

verbcriminalise (third-person singular simple present criminalises, present participle criminalising, simple past and past participle criminalised)

present singular third person criminalises · participle present criminalising · participle past criminalised · past criminalised

  1. UKnonstandardNon-Oxford British English standard spelling of criminalize.

    Thailand has dropped legislation to criminalise torture and disappearances after years of working on the bill, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday, leaving state employees unaccountable for serious crimes.

    2017 March 1, “UN slams Thai 'culture of torture'”, in Bangkok Post
    3 more examples

    As soon as it was suggested that it was considering the Swedish model – in which men are criminalised for buying sex, but the women working in prostitution are decriminalised – a slew of prominent male columnists started arguing against this infringement on a man's right to purchase a woman's body.

    2008 February 27, Kira Cochrane, “How could it happen again?”, in The Guardian

    Section 377A, which was introduced under British colonial rule, criminalises “any act of gross indecency with another male person”. The law carries a sentence of up to two years in prison, though it is not believed to have been enforced for more than a decade.

    2022 August 21, Rebecca Ratcliffe, “Singapore to repeal law that criminalises sex between men”, in The Guardian

    The chilling effects of criminalising exploratory conversations between a therapist and a young person that could be perceived as denying their identity will only make the holistic therapy recognised as critical by the Cass review even harder to access.

    2023 October 22, The Observer, “The Observer view on gender dysphoria: criminalising therapy poses risk to children’s welfare”, in The Guardian

Synonyms & antonyms

verbdeclare illegal; outlaw

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*krey-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kréymn̥
  3. Proto-Italic*kreimən
  4. Latincrīmen
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Late Latincrimināli
  8. Anglo-Normancrimina
  9. Middle Englishcryminal
  10. Englishcriminal
  11. Englishcriminalise

From criminal + -ise.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

criminalise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/criminalise

MLA

“criminalise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/criminalise. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “criminalise,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/criminalise.

Source: criminalise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.