What does condone mean?
To condone something is to accept, excuse, or quietly allow behaviour that one knows to be wrong, especially by failing to condemn or punish it. The word implies more than mere tolerance: condoning suggests a degree of tacit approval, which is why it so often appears in phrases like "the government cannot be seen to condone violence." It is almost always used critically — speakers say they refuse to condone, will never condone, or accuse others of having condoned some offence. Derived from the Latin condonare, meaning "to give away" or "to absolve," the word entered English in the early seventeenth century and has long carried this moral weight. Its only common derivative is the noun condonation, used chiefly in canon law and older legal writing. Because condone resembles the sympathy-expressing verb condole, the two are sometimes confused, though their meanings are entirely distinct. For anyone writing about ethics, policy, or accountability, condone is an indispensable term for naming the quiet complicity of looking the other way.
verbTo accept or forgive behaviour that is morally wrong or disapproved of, especially by failing to condemn or punish it.
- To deliberately disregard or treat as acceptable behaviour one knows to be wrong, especially by not condemning or punishing it (often implying tacit approval rather than explicit forgiveness).
"The committee refused to condone any breach of the safety rules, no matter how minor."
"The school made it clear that it would never condone bullying of any kind."
"By staying silent during the scandal, the board effectively condoned the misconduct."
"Condone" literally means "to give away" in Latin — the Romans thought of forgiving a wrong as handing it off like a gift.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of condone
"Condone" comes from the Latin verb condonare, formed from com- (an intensive prefix) plus donare, "to give" — literally meaning to give away or remit something, hence to forgive or absolve. The root donare itself derives from the Latin noun donum, "gift," making condone a cousin of words such as pardon, donation, and donor. English adopted the word in the early seventeenth century, initially in legal and theological contexts of remitting offences, before settling into its modern sense of tacitly accepting wrongdoing. Its sibling form condonation survives mainly in ecclesiastical law.
Related word forms
How condone is actually used
Condone carries a strongly negative connotation: to condone something is usually framed as a moral failure or an act of tacit approval. It typically implies overlooking wrongdoing rather than actively approving of it, and is most often used with 'not', 'never', or 'refuse to'. The verb is formal-to-neutral in register and appears frequently in institutional, legal, and journalistic contexts. It takes a direct object and is rarely used about trivial matters — it presupposes that the thing overlooked is genuinely objectionable.
Easily confused with condone
"Condone" means to overlook or forgive wrongdoing, while "condole" means to express sympathy or grief, especially over someone's death.