blacklist

1 of 2

noun

black·​list ˈblak-ˌlist 

1

: a list of persons who are disapproved of or are to be punished or boycotted

2

: a list of banned or excluded things of disreputable character

a domain-name blacklist

… helped the government keep marijuana on the blacklist.

—Cynthia Cotts

blacklist

2 of 2

verb

blacklisted; blacklisting; blacklists

transitive verb

: to put on a blacklist

blacklister noun

Examples of blacklist in a Sentence

Noun

He's on the FBI's blacklist.

The rental company has created a blacklist of bad drivers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Trump administration placed Huawei on a U.S. trade blacklist in 2019, then barred the Chinese tech company from getting semiconductors made using U.S. technology or software a year later. —Alena Botros, Fortune Asia, 1 Nov. 2024

Huawei was placed on a U.S. trade blacklist in May 2019 over national security concerns. —Dylan Butts, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2024

Verb

In 2022, perhaps the most notorious mixer, Tornado Cash, was blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Treasury for allegedly money laundering billions of dollars for criminals, including the group fronting for North Korea. —Steven Ehrlich, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

His attorney told the court that he has been blacklisted by Hollywood since he was identified publicly as a participant in the assault on the Capitol. —Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1702, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

blacklist

noun

black·​list

ˈblak-ˌlist

: a list of persons who are disapproved of and are to be punished

blacklist verb