What does debar mean?
To debar is to formally exclude someone from something — a place, a privilege, an office, a competition, or a profession — typically by official decision or legal authority. The word carries a distinctly formal tone: it belongs to courtrooms, sports federations, universities, and government agencies far more than to casual conversation, where simpler terms like 'ban' or 'keep out' would be used instead. A company found guilty of misconduct may be debarred from future government contracts; an athlete who fails a doping test may be debarred from competing. The word usually appears in the passive form, as in 'she was debarred from practice.' Its noun form, debarment, is standard in legal writing. Debar derives from an older sense of removing a physical bar or obstacle, which gives it an apt irony: a word born of opening doors now describes closing them to those judged unfit to pass through.
verbTo officially prevent someone from doing something, entering somewhere, or taking part in an activity; to exclude or prohibit, especially by formal rule or legal authority.
- To exclude or prohibit someone formally from a place, activity, privilege, or occupation.
- (Law) To legally prevent a person from holding public office, voting, contracting with a government body, or otherwise exercising a right.
"The athlete was debarred from competition after testing positive for a banned substance."
"The committee voted to debar him from standing for election for five years."
"Contractors convicted of fraud may be debarred from bidding on government projects."
Debar literally means to 'un-bar' — it began as a word for opening a barred door before it turned into one for shutting people out.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of debar
Debar entered English in the early 17th century from Old French 'desbarer', meaning literally to remove a bar or fastening — hence originally to open a barred gate or door. The root traces back through French to the Latin 'barra', the same word that gave English 'bar', 'barrier', 'barricade', and 'embargo'. Over time the meaning shifted from physically unbolting a door to figuratively excluding a person, so that today it means to shut someone out by official action. Its cousin 'disbar', coined later for lawyers specifically, preserves the same lineage in a specialized legal sense.
Related word forms
How debar is actually used
Formal register — chiefly used in legal, sporting, academic, and administrative contexts rather than everyday speech. Often appears in passive constructions ('was debarred'). In American legal usage, 'debar' is especially common in procurement and election law, while 'disbar' is reserved for attorneys.
Easily confused with debar
Disbar is the narrower legal term for expelling a lawyer from the profession, while debar is the broader term for excluding anyone from any right, office, place, or activity.