Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use condone in a sentence

18 example sentences · verb

Condone means to forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked). Example: “We should not condone the assignment of asylum seekers to that of people smugglers.”

Examples of condone by meaning

verbTo forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).

  • Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

verbTo allow, accept or permit (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).

  • Rule-utilitarianism is unlikely to condone torturing a child, but it does imply that the torturing of a child is less evil if the torturer shares his pleasure with other sadists-perhaps by inviting an audience, or broadcasting it on the Internet.2001, Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, page 29

More sentences with condone

  • We should not condone the assignment of asylum seekers to that of people smugglers.From the entry assignment
  • It is his persuasion that abortion should never be condoned.From the entry persuasion
  • The occupational culture of the British police condones the use of “verbals” or “working the oracle.”2006, Thomas Barker, Police Ethics: Crisis in Law Enforcement, page 90. From the entry work the oracle
  • I don't condone the crude and racist slogans that spontaneous counterdemonstrators yelled at the pro-Palestinian protestors.1988 June 3, Elliot Zashin, “Demonstration: An Incomplete Picture”, in Chicago Reader. From the entry counterdemonstrator
  • I joked: "I may condone Sodomy, but this would be Gomorrahy."1981, William O'Rourke, Idle hands: a novel, New York: Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 357. From the entry Gomorrahy
  • Dadaist reaction against an incondonable reality also meant reaction against all who condoned that reality.1979, Allan Carl Greenberg, Artists and Revolution: Dada and the Bauhaus, Umi Research Press, page 120. From the entry incondonable
  • Murder might be condoned or explained, and yet some smaller offence might rankle.1924 November 8, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry puzzle
  • Neither should we, with bitter partisan zealousy, condone all wrongs committed.1922, Retail Clerks International Advocate: 1922-23 - Volumes 29-30, page 5. From the entry zealousy
  • “I don’t condone any abuses of human rights anywhere.2022 December 23, Archie Bland, “Friday briefing: The Crown discourse, Elon Musk tweets and 15 more things to leave behind in 2022”, in…. From the entry horlicks
  • Her behavior cannot be condoned,” Tuter said.2018 April 23, Chuck Johnston, “Judge not allowed back to court after berating woman who died”, in CNN, archived from the original on 12…. From the entry judge
  • Downtown merchants can’t condone sending the spend-minded to Lancaster Mall, where they can park without fear in mega-macadam lots.2004 October 29, Carol McAlice Currie, “Unposted laws make downtown seem unwelcoming”, in Statesman Journal, volume 152, number 214…. From the entry minded
  • I do not condone living completely plasticless.1999, Mary Hunt, Mary Hunt's Debt-proof Living, page 198. From the entry plasticless
  • He was taught from childhood that the world does not condone homosexuality and that it is an unmentionable of decent people.1995, Virginia Schroeder Burnham, William H. Hampton, Since Time Began, page 43. From the entry unmentionable
  • The ordinance condones immorality and discriminates against my children's rights to grow up in a healthy, decent community.1977 January 19, Anita Bryant, quotee, “Bias Against Homosexuals Is Outlawed in Miami”, in The New York Times, page 14. From the entry discriminate
  • Defenders of Southern slavery employed religious rhetoric to justify the system, selecting biblical passages that appeared to condone the practice of slaveholding and the relation between master and slave.2013, Rebecca Fraser, Gender, Race and Family in Nineteenth Century America. From the entry slaveholding
  • In response, black groups accuse school personnel of practicing genocide and "menticide" (miseducation) for allowing black children to get away with conduct they would not condone in white children.1974, Herbert Foster, Ribbin', Jivin', and Playin' the Dozens: The Unrecognized Dilemma of Inner-city Schools, Cambridge, Massachusetts…. From the entry menticide

Meaning of condone

  1. verb To forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).
  2. verb To allow, accept or permit (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).
  3. verb To forgive (marital infidelity or other marital offense).

Full definition of condone

Questions about condone in a sentence

How do you use condone in a sentence?
Condone is used as a verb. For example: “We should not condone the assignment of asylum seekers to that of people smugglers.”
What is a short sentence with condone?
“Her behavior cannot be condoned,” Tuter said.”
What does condone mean?
Condone means to forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: condone (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use condone in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/condone. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.