criminalize

verb/ˈkrɪmɪnəlaɪz/

Frequency rank: #18,967 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

to make something illegal by law or to treat someone as a criminal.

Illustration for the English word “criminalize”

Example sentence

Some activists argue that it is wrong to criminalize homelessness instead of addressing its root causes.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 18,901–19,000