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Glite Dictionary
🚫 To exclude 🚫 An exclusion vote
to blackball

to blackball

13 8.3
To vote against someone so they cannot join or stay in a group, often by a secret vote
  • verb
  • /ˈblækˌbɔl/
translation icon : excluir
  • She feared that her controversial opinions would lead others to blackball her from the club.
  • get blackballed
  • blackballed by the fraternity
  • blackballed from Hollywood

And because of that, I've been blackballed, blackmailed, blacklisted, censored, everything.

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Examples

  • I do know that you subsequently blackballed me to keep me out of the Commercial Club.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Even if you hated Betty, you had to be sweet or else you'd find yourself blackballed from everything that mattered in Crystal Falls.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • I would be blackballed from every paper in the country.

    Newsies (1992)

  • My dear fellow, consider yourself blackballed by this club.

    Algiers (1938)

  • The community had blackballed him.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The GOP establishment essentially blackballed her to prevent her from running.

    Blog text (22)

  • After that, Peirce was repeatedly blackballed from further university positions.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Together, these three—working, for the most part, independently—unravel a conspiracy to blackball a handful of rank-and-file police officers.

    Blog text (17)

  • The committee decided to blackball him after the scandal came to light.

  • If they blackball a member, it will be nearly impossible for them to rejoin.

Synonyms

to ban
vsto blackball
  • Formal
484 1.4

To officially stop someone from doing something by law or rule

is decided privately by members' votes, not by legal or public authority
to banish
vsto blackball
107 6.3

Force someone to leave a place or group and not let them return

is a private membership ballot to block staying rather than legal exile
to ostracize
vsto blackball
  • US
31 7.7

To leave someone out of a group on purpose

is done by a group vote often kept secret rather than general social avoidance
to cast out
vsto blackball
31 6.2

Force someone to leave a group or place because others reject them

is a voting exclusion that removes membership rather than a physical expulsion
to shun
vsto blackball
26 4.6

To avoid someone or something and refuse to meet and speak to them on purpose

is carried out by a membership vote, not just individual avoidance

Antonyms

to include
∞ 1.0

To make a person or thing part of something larger

to admit
238 2.8

Allow someone to join a group or organization

Surface Forms

blackball infinitive
blackballed past
blackballed past participle
blackballing present participle
blackballs third person singular

Morphology

blackball = blackball (opaque) = black + ball

The verb comes from the specialized noun 'blackball' used in secret voting, so the meaning is not recoverable in a standard way from 'black' + 'ball'.

Etymology

Blackball comes from a club practice of secret votes where members put a black ball into a box to say 'no'. So, to blackball someone is to vote against or act in a way that keeps them out of a group.