prohibition

pro·hi·bi·tion
P3R1O1H4I1B3I1T1I1O1N1
UK/ˌpɹəʊ(h)ɪˈbɪʃən/US/ˌpɹoʊ(h)ɪˈbɪʃən/

noun

An act of prohibiting, forbidding, disallowing, or proscribing something.

Opposite
CommonScrabble 18

Meanings

prohibition1

nounprohibition (countable and uncountable, plural prohibitions)

plural prohibitions

  1. countableuncountableAn act of prohibiting, forbidding, disallowing, or proscribing something.

    But the prohibition on active advocacy and participation left a wide margin of allowable activity and was open to interpretation.

    2021 December 20, Oren Liebermann, Barbara Starr, “Pentagon defines prohibited behavior in effort to tackle extremism”, in CNN, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2022
    2 more examples

    By its terms, the Twenty-Second Amendment bars only the election of two-term Presidents, and this prohibition would not prevent someone who had twice been elected President from succeeding to the office after having been elected or appointed Vice President. Broader language providing that no such person "shall be chosen or serve as President . . . or be eligible to hold the office" was rejected in favor of the Twenty-Second Amendment’s ban merely on election. (Amdt22.1 Overview of Twenty-Second Amendment, Presidential Term Limits, The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation)

    Appeals courts, including the 5th Circuit, have in the past upheld the federal ban in question. But more recently, some courts have shown hostility towards gun prohibitions aimed at 18- to 20-year-olds.

    2025 January 30, Tierney Sneed, “Federal law banning handgun sales 18- to 20-year-olds is unconstitutional, appeals court rules”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2025
  2. countableuncountableA law prohibiting the manufacture or sale of alcohol.
    1 more example

    First, some persons might consider my advocacy of prohibition rather odd for a congressman coming from the state which produces the finest bourbon whiskey in the world. While this is true, it is also true that prior to the Eighteenth Amendment a large majority of the counties of Kentucky had voted against the sale of liquor under what was known as the county unit plan. Since repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment a substantial majority of Kentucky counties have voted under local option to outlaw liquor. My stand on the question, first in voting for the submission of the Eighteenth Amendment, and later for an amendment to appeal it, was a matter of principle and not of expediency.

    1954, Alben W. Barkley, That Reminds Me, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 42
  3. countableuncountableA period of time when specific socially disapproved consumables are considered controlled substances.

Prohibition2

proper noun
  1. historyAny of several periods during which the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages were restricted or illegal.
    1. UShistoryThe period from 17 January 1920 through 5 December 1933 in the United States, between the effective dates of the Eighteenth and Twenty-First Amendments to the United States Constitution.
  2. IslamThe 66th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
Opposite

nouna decree that prohibits something

nounthe period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment

Similar
prohibition era

nounthe action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an instance thereof)

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinprohibitiō
  2. Old Frenchprohibicion
  3. Englishprohibition

From Anglo-Norman and Old French prohibicion, from Latin prohibitiō. By surface analysis, prohibit + -ion.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic حَظْر, مَنْع
  • حَظْر (ḥaẓr)act of prohibiting
  • مَنْع (manʕ)act of prohibiting
  • حَظْر (ḥaẓr)law that prohibits something
  • مَنْعُ الْكُحُول (manʕu l-kuḥūl)period
  • سُورَةُ التَّحْرِيمِ (sūratu t-taḥrīmi)66th sura of the Qur'an
Bulgarian забра́на, запреще́ние
  • забра́на (zabrána)act of prohibiting
  • запреще́ние (zaprešténie)act of prohibiting
  • забра́на (zabrána)law that prohibits something
  • запреще́ние (zaprešténie)law that prohibits something
  • сух режи́м (suh režím)period
Catalan prohibició, interdicció
  • prohibicióact of prohibiting
  • interdiccióact of prohibiting
Chinese Cantonese 禁止
  • 禁止 (gam³ zi²)act of prohibiting
Chinese Mandarin 禁止, 禁令
  • 禁止 (jìnzhǐ)act of prohibiting
  • 禁令 (jìnlìng)law that prohibits something
  • 禁止 (jìnzhǐ)law that prohibits something
  • 禁酒令 (jìnjiǔlìng)period
  • 禁酒 (jìnjiǔ)period
  • 禁戒章 (Jìnjièzhāng)66th sura of the Qur'an
Czech zákaz, zákaz
  • zákazact of prohibiting
  • zákazlaw that prohibits something
  • prohibicelaw that prohibits something
  • prohibiceperiod
Danish forbud, forbud
  • forbudact of prohibiting
  • forbudlaw that prohibits something
Dutch verbod, verbod
  • verbodact of prohibiting
  • verbodlaw that prohibits something
Estonian keeld
  • keeldact of prohibiting
Finnish kielto, kieltolaki
  • kieltoact of prohibiting
  • kieltolakilaw that prohibits something
  • kieltolain aikaperiod
French prohibition, interdiction
  • prohibitionact of prohibiting
  • interdictionact of prohibiting
  • interdictionlaw that prohibits something
  • prohibitionlaw that prohibits something
  • Prohibitionperiod
German Verbot, Verbot
  • Verbotact of prohibiting
  • Verbotlaw that prohibits something
  • Alkoholprohibitionperiod
  • Prohibitionperiod
Greek απαγόρευση, ποτοαπαγόρευση
  • απαγόρευση (apagórefsi)act of prohibiting
  • ποτοαπαγόρευση (potoapagórefsi)law that prohibits something
Hebrew איסור, אִסּוּר
  • איסורact of prohibiting
  • אִסּוּר (isúr)act of prohibiting
Hindi निषेध, मनाही
  • निषेध (niṣedh)act of prohibiting
  • मनाही (manāhī)act of prohibiting
Hungarian tiltás, megtiltás
  • tiltásact of prohibiting
  • megtiltásact of prohibiting
  • tilalomact of prohibiting
  • szesztilalomlaw that prohibits something
  • alkoholtilalomlaw that prohibits something
  • tilalomlaw that prohibits something
  • szesztilalomperiod
Icelandic bann, forboð
  • bannact of prohibiting
  • forboðact of prohibiting
  • bannárlaw that prohibits something
Indonesian larangan
  • laranganact of prohibiting
Irish crosadh
  • crosadhact of prohibiting
Italian proibizione
  • proibizioneact of prohibiting
Japanese 禁止, 差し止め
  • 禁止 (kinshi)act of prohibiting
  • 差し止め (sashitome)act of prohibiting
  • 禁止 (kinshi)law that prohibits something
  • 禁止法 (kinshihō)law that prohibits something
  • 禁制 (kinsei)law that prohibits something
  • 禁酒令 (kinshurei)period
  • 禁酒 (kinshu)period
  • 禁止 (Kinshi)66th sura of the Qur'an
Korean 금지, 금지
  • 금지 (geumji)act of prohibiting
  • 금지 (geumji)law that prohibits something
  • 금주법 (geumjubeop)period
Latin vetitum, interdictum
  • vetitumact of prohibiting
  • interdictumact of prohibiting
  • prohibitiōact of prohibiting
  • interdictumlaw that prohibits something
  • prohibitiolaw that prohibits something
Latvian liegums, aizliegums
  • liegumsact of prohibiting
  • aizliegumsact of prohibiting
Lithuanian draudimas, uždraudimas
  • draudimasact of prohibiting
  • uždraudimasact of prohibiting
Malay larangan
  • laranganact of prohibiting
Māori poropeihana
  • poropeihanalaw that prohibits something
Norwegian Bokmål forbud, forbud
  • forbudact of prohibiting
  • forbudlaw that prohibits something
  • alkoholforbudlaw that prohibits something
Polish zakaz, zakaz
  • zakazact of prohibiting
  • zakazlaw that prohibits something
  • prohibicjaperiod
Portuguese proibição, proibição
  • proibiçãoact of prohibiting
  • proibiçãolaw that prohibits something
Romanian interdicție, prohibiție
  • interdicțieact of prohibiting
  • prohibițieperiod
Russian запре́т, запреще́ние
  • запре́т (zaprét)act of prohibiting
  • запреще́ние (zapreščénije)act of prohibiting
  • запре́т (zaprét)law that prohibits something
  • сухо́й зако́н (suxój zakón)period
Slovak zákaz, zákaz
  • zákazact of prohibiting
  • zákazlaw that prohibits something
  • prohibíciaperiod
Spanish prohibición, prohibición
  • prohibiciónact of prohibiting
  • prohibiciónlaw that prohibits something
Swedish förbud, förbud
  • förbudact of prohibiting
  • förbudlaw that prohibits something
Thai การห้าม, ข้อห้าม
  • การห้าม (gaan-hâam)act of prohibiting
  • ข้อห้าม (kɔ̂ɔ-hâam)act of prohibiting
Turkish yasak, memnuiyet
  • yasakact of prohibiting
  • memnuiyetact of prohibiting
  • içki yasağıperiod
Ukrainian заборо́на, заборо́на
  • заборо́на (zaboróna)act of prohibiting
  • заборо́на (zaboróna)law that prohibits something
  • сухи́й зако́н (suxýj zakón)period
Urdu پابَنْدی, مَناہی
  • پابَنْدی (pābandī)act of prohibiting
  • مَناہی (manāhī)act of prohibiting
  • مَمْنُوعِیَت (mamnū'iyat)act of prohibiting
Vietnamese sự cấm, cấm chỉ
  • sự cấmact of prohibiting
  • cấm chỉact of prohibiting
Yiddish פֿאַרבאָט
  • פֿאַרבאָט (farbot)act of prohibiting

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with prohibition

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

prohibition. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prohibition

MLA

“prohibition.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prohibition. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prohibition,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prohibition.

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