sanction.

1. A measure imposed to punish or pressure someone for violating a rule.

2. Formal permission or authoritative support for an action.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• economic sanction
• disciplinary sanction

On the page

The disciplinary sanction barred him from representing the organization.

Usage notes

Primary category: economics / business / social science. Forms: Singular sanction; plural sanctions. Verb sanction, sanctions, sanctioned, sanctioned, sanctioning. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, evaluation, business. Commonness: common. Third-person singular: sanctions.