condone
- 01 C1 Advanced
to accept or allow behavior that is wrong, or to treat it as if it is not a problem.
to overlook or disregard an offense, thereby implying acceptance or forgiveness of the behavior.
Simple“The company does not condone any form of cheating in the workplace.”
In context“While the director claimed to value integrity, his failure to discipline the staff suggested he was willing to condone their unethical practices.”
UsageThis verb is transitive and always takes a direct object, usually an abstract noun representing a negative behavior.
PitfallThe school does not condone to bullying. The school does not condone bullying.This is a transitive verb; it takes a direct object without a preposition.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
to forgive a partner for doing something wrong in a marriage, like being unfaithful.
to forgive or overlook a marital offense, such as adultery, often in a way that prevents it from being used as a legal ground for divorce.
Simple“By staying in the house, he was seen to condone his wife's actions.”
In context“In some jurisdictions, if a spouse continues to live with the offender after learning of the infidelity, they may be said to condone the act.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is highly specialized and mostly found in older legal texts or formal discussions of family law.
Learned borrowing from Latin condōnāre (“to forgive”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.