Condone
/kənˈdoʊn/
verbC1
Definition
Condone means to accept or overlook something bad or wrong without stopping it or punishing it. When someone condones an action, they do not say it is right, but they do not do anything to stop it either. It often involves ignoring a mistake or bad behavior.
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See It in Action
To accept or allow bad behavior without punishment or protest
- •The school does not condone bullying in any form.
- •He was criticized for condoning his team’s cheating.
- •Parents should not condone lying by their children.
To overlook or forgive a fault or mistake quietly
- •Some people condone small mistakes to keep peace.
- •The manager seemed to condone the employee’s late arrivals.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "condone" like "allow," but for things that are usually wrong or bad—it’s letting something bad happen without stopping it
- ✓Picture a teacher seeing a student cheating but not saying anything or giving a punishment
- ✓It's the feeling when you see someone doing something wrong, but you choose not to say or do anything about it
- ✓Sounds like "con-DONE" → imagine saying "Okay, it’s done" even if it was a bad action, like accepting it quietly
- ✓Think of a story where a parent ignores small bad behavior because they don’t want to make a big problem
- ✓NOT like "approve" (which means saying something is good or right), condone means you don’t stop it but don’t say it’s good either
- ✓NOT like "ignore" (which means not paying attention), condone means you notice but choose to accept it anyway
- ✓NOT like "punish" (which means to give a penalty), condone is the opposite—you do not punish the bad action
Try Other Words
- •Tolerate: accept something unpleasant without stopping it (Use when the action is annoying or bad but not very serious)
- •Overlook: ignore a mistake or bad action on purpose or by accident (Use when the bad action is small or unimportant)
- •Accept: agree to take or receive something (Use when you want to show agreement or permission, more general than condone)
Unboxing
- •Prefix "con-" means "together" or "with"
- •Root "done" comes from the verb "do," meaning to perform an action
- •Etymology: From Latin "condonare," meaning "to give up, remit, forgive"
- •Historically used in law and religion to mean forgiving or overlooking faults or sins
- •Today, used to describe quietly accepting or allowing bad behavior without punishment or protest
Reflect & Connect
•Can condoning bad behavior ever be helpful? When might it be better to overlook small mistakes?
•How do you feel when someone condones something wrong? Does it make the problem bigger or smaller?
Fill in the blanks
1.The teacher refused to condone cheating because it ___ the rules of the school.
2.When parents condone bad behavior, children may ___ that it is acceptable.
3.Unlike punishment, to condone means to ___ the action without stopping it.
4.The manager seemed to condone the employee’s mistakes by ___ any consequences.
5.People often condone small errors to ___ peace in a group.
6.If a government condones corruption, it ___ the problem instead of fixing it.
7.Condone is different from ignore because condone means you ___ the bad action but do not stop it.