sanction
Syllables: sanc·tion/ˈsæŋkʃən//ˈseɪ̯ŋkʃən/
sanction noun: an approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.
Noun
sanction (countable and uncountable, plural sanctions)
- An approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.
- The whalers had been operating in the contested waters off the island with sanction from the Japanese government.
- The idea that it was more comfortable in the house than out of it, did much towards reconciling his lordship. He felt positively glad that, as his wife had acted without his sanction, she should be subject to all possible inconvenience, as if such could be felt in Henrietta's state of mind.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Truth of Presentiments”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 306
- Synonyms:
- approbation, consent, accedence, accession, allowance, approval, assent, assentment, authorization, OK
- A penalty, punishment, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance; especially one adopted by several nations, or by an international body.
- The United States enacted a new round of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa.
- Synonyms:
- correction, punishment, boycott, embargo, censure, discipline, penalty, punition, sentence
- A law, treaty, or contract, or a clause within a law, treaty, or contract, specifying any of the above.
Verb
sanction (third-person singular simple present sanctions, present participle sanctioning, simple past and past participle sanctioned)
- To ratify; to make valid.
- To give official authorization or approval to; to countenance.
- The school's inaction further sanctions this misbehavior.
- Many of the most earnest Protestants were business men, to whom lending money at interest was essential. Consequently first Calvin, and then other Protestant divines, sanctioned interest.1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.21
- To penalize (a state etc.) with sanctions.
- The generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, can be duped into providing detailed advice on how to commit crimes — ranging from money laundering to the export of weapons to sanctioned countries — a tech startup found.2024 October 23, Tricia Escobedo, “AI-generated crimes, a treasure mystery, quick thinking by bus passengers: Catch up on the day’s stories”, in CNN
sanction meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
sanction in Hindi
- approval, by an authority, that makes something valid
- अनुज्ञप्ति anujñapti, मंजूरी mañjūrī
- penalty or coercive measure
- प्रतिबंध pratibandh
sanction in Tamil
- இசைவாணை, இசைவாணை வழங்கு, ஒப்பளிப்பு, வழங்காணை, ஒப்புதலளி, ஒப்புதலாணை
sanction in Urdu
- اجازت, منظوری, قبول, سزا, اجازت دینا, منظوری کرنا
sanction in Bengali
- অনুমোদন দেওয়া, নিষেধাজ্ঞা আরোপ করা
More languagesFewer languages
- sanction in Telugu
- శాంక్షను śāṅkṣanu
- sanction in Malayalam
- ഉപരോധം uparōdhaṁ
- sanction in Kannada
- ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ, ದಂಡನೆ, ನಿರ್ಬಂಧ, ನಿಷೇಧ
- sanction in Tagalog
- sanksiyon, sanksyon
- sanction in Arabic
- عِقَاب ʕiqāb, إِسْتِحْسَان ʔistiḥsān, إِعْتِمَاد ʔiʕtimād, عُقُوبَة ʕuqūba
- sanction in Malay
- sanksi, sekatan
- sanction in Indonesian
- sanksi
- sanction in Persian
- تحریم tahrim
- sanction in Thai
- การลงโทษ gaan-long-tôot, ลงโทษ long-tôot
- sanction in Vietnamese
- sự phê chuẩn, sự chấp nhận, sự đồng ý, hình phạt
Examples of sanction in a sentence
- Sanctions were imposed on the country that had made an unprovoked attack on its neighbour.
- The international community's sanctions against the regime had some teeth to them this time around.
- Sanctions have failed to put a hurt on the adversary government.
Synonyms of sanction
16 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of sanction
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sanctions |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sanctions |
| present participle | sanctioning |
| past participle | sanctioned |
| past | sanctioned |
Origin of sanction
From Middle French sanction, from Latin sānctiō.
Words formed from sanction
- antisanction
- antisanctions
- countersanction
- cybersanctions
- nonsanction
- pragmatic sanction
- presanction
- presanctions
- sanctional
- sanctionary
- sanctioneer
- sanctionism
- sanctionist
- sanctionless
- secondary sanction
- nonsanctioned
- resanction
- sanctionability
- sanctionable
- sanctioner
- sanctionment
- unsanctioned
- unsanctioning
Questions about sanction
- What does sanction mean?
- Sanction means an approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.
- What is sanction in Hindi?
- Sanction in Hindi is अनुज्ञप्ति (anujñapti), मंजूरी (mañjūrī), प्रतिबंध (pratibandh). See Sanction meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is sanction?
- Sanction can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce sanction?
- Sanction is pronounced /ˈsæŋkʃən/.
- What is the plural of sanction?
- The plural of sanction is sanctions.
Words near sanction in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sanction (page history and authors); sanction (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sanction (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sanction (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); శాంక్షను (Telugu) (page history and authors); ഉപരോധം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); sanction (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sanction.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sanction.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sanction. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.