What does condemnable mean?
Condemnable is a formal adjective meaning deserving of condemnation — that is, worthy of strong, explicit disapproval on moral or ethical grounds. When an action, policy, or behavior is described as condemnable, the speaker is judging it not merely as bad or unfortunate, but as blameworthy in a way that calls for public censure. The word is most at home in serious contexts: legal judgments, political statements, human-rights reports, and editorial commentary. One might read that a government's treatment of dissidents was 'roundly condemnable', or hear a spokesperson describe an attack as 'utterly condemnable'. Its tone is measured and institutional rather than inflammatory; where 'vile' or 'outrageous' express visceral revulsion, condemnable signals a considered verdict that the thing in question merits official denunciation. Related words include reprehensible, deplorable, and culpable, though condemnable places particular emphasis on the judgment being passed rather than merely on the offense itself.
adjectiveDeserving of strong censure or condemnation; morally blameworthy.
- Deserving of strong disapproval or censure on moral grounds; worthy of condemnation.
"The report condemned the factory's dumping of toxic waste as utterly condemnable."
"The committee declared the bribery scheme wholly condemnable and referred the matter to the authorities."
"Silence in the face of such cruelty is itself a condemnable failure of moral courage."
Condemnable shares its Latin root with 'damn' — to call something condemnable is, etymologically, to say it deserves damnation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of condemnable
Condemnable derives from the Latin verb condemnare, meaning 'to condemn' or 'to sentence', formed from com- (an intensive prefix) plus damnare ('to judge adversely, to doom'), the same root that gives English 'damning' and 'damnation'. English borrowed the base verb 'condemn' from Old French condemner in the medieval period, and formed condemnable with the adjective suffix -able, likely in the early modern period. Cognates appear across the Romance languages, including French condamnable and Italian condannabile.
How condemnable is actually used
Condemnable belongs chiefly to formal registers — legal, political, journalistic, and diplomatic writing — where it often appears in official expressions of disapproval. It carries strong negative connotation but is more measured and institutional than emotionally heated words like 'outrageous' or 'vile'. It is typically used predicatively ('the act was condemnable') rather than attributively ('a condemnable act' sounds stiff).
Easily confused with condemnable
Contemptible means deserving contempt or scorn (despicably low or mean), while condemnable means deserving formal condemnation for being wrong or unacceptable.