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Glite Dictionary
to excommunicate

to excommunicate

24 9.3
To officially stop someone from being a member of a church as punishment
  • verb
  • /ˌɛkskəˈmjunɪˌkeɪt/
  • Formal
translation icon : excomulgar
  • He was excommunicated by his own Jewish community.
  • excommunicated from the church

Unless you have a different point of view, then you are excluded, almost excommunicated.

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Examples

  • What if I were to join another church, would I be excommunicated and shunned for the rest of my life?

    Academic text (1992)

  • I have a sinking feeling I'm going to be excommunicated for all this.

    The Devil Inside (2012)

  • Has it come to this, that parents can be excommunicated for actions of their children?

    Blog text (21)

  • They, they came out and said these things and they were, they lost their license and they were excommunicated from the medical community.

    Dr. Josh Axe

  • Remember, if we are discovered by the Vatican, we are excommunicated.

    The Da Vinci Code (2006)

  • He was actually excommunicated from his family for becoming an actor.

  • You were excommunicated because of the divorce and remarriage?

    Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

  • You'll be excommunicated, and you won't be able to help our people anymore.

    The Exorcism of God (2022)

  • Sonia Johnson, the AHA's first Humanist Heroine, was excommunicated from the Mormon Church for her support of the Equal Rights Amendment.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The church decided to excommunicate the members who violated its rules.

Synonyms

to ban
vsto excommunicate
  • Formal
484 1.4

To officially stop someone from doing something by law or rule

is the formal exclusion used as punishment rather than a general prohibition
to expel
vsto excommunicate
194 5.0

Force someone to leave a place, such as a school or country, often by official order

is the formal punishment for removing someone from a religious community
to banish
vsto excommunicate
107 6.3

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

is an official punishment used within religious communities not geographic exile
to ostracize
vsto excommunicate
  • US
31 7.7

To leave someone out of a group on purpose

is a formal institutional exclusion rather than purely social shunning
to cast out
vsto excommunicate
31 6.2

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

is an official exclusion used as punishment, not only emotional rejection
to outcast
vsto excommunicate
1 5.7

To force someone out of a group so others avoid them

is an official punishment by a religious or community body causing rejection
to disfellowship
vsto excommunicate
  • Jargon
1 9.9

To remove someone from a group for breaking rules

is the official punishment used to bar members from participation
to unchurch
vsto excommunicate
  • Jargon
9.9

To officially stop someone being a member of a church group

is an official punishment that forces removal from a religious community

Antonyms

to include
∞ 1.0

To make a person or thing part of something larger

to welcome
233 1.0

Receive something or someone gladly

How Severe

to excommunicate
  • Formal
24 9.3
to expel
194 5.0
to suspend
  • Formal
289 4.2
to ostracize
  • US
31 7.7
to exclude
338 3.0
to warn
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

excommunicate infinitive
excommunicated past
excommunicated past participle
excommunicating present participle
excommunicates third person singular

Morphology

excommunicate = communicate (semi-transparent) = ex + communicate

The parts 'ex-' (out of) + 'communicate' (share in common) point to removal from a shared community, but the specific formal ecclesiastical meaning 'officially expel from a church' is specialized and not fully predictable for average learners.

Etymology

Excommunicate comes from the Latin parts ex- meaning 'out of' and communis meaning 'common' or 'together', the same root as community. So to excommunicate someone is to put them 'out of the community' or to officially exclude them from a church or group.