criminalizar

to criminalise

verb kree-mee-nah-lee-SAHR Rare

Usage Note

Criminalizar means to treat something as a criminal act or to label a person or group as criminal — often used in debates about protest, drug policy, or migration. It is a transitive verb: criminalizar la protesta (to criminalise protest). The noun form is criminalización and the related adjective is criminalizado/criminalizada.

Examples

"No se puede criminalizar la pobreza."

Natural Translation

Poverty cannot be criminalised.

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