as in to banish
to not allow (someone) to continue being a member of a group and especially the Roman Catholic church
He was excommunicated from the church for his radical practices.
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Recent Examples of excommunicate
His brother, a defrocked Catholic priest with a Cessna Skyhawk aircraft and a Lincoln Continental, was excommunicated for marrying his secretary.
—
Jasper Craven, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Shapiro, however, doesn’t have the power to excommunicate Owens.
—Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 27 Dec. 2025
The student movement should have immediately excommunicated him.
—Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 7 Oct. 2025
The Harmses had been excommunicated from the church, and a current and a former church leader obtained protection orders, Bleazard said.
—Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for excommunicate
Jasper Craven, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Shapiro, however, doesn’t have the power to excommunicate Owens.
—Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 27 Dec. 2025
The student movement should have immediately excommunicated him.
—Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 7 Oct. 2025
The Harmses had been excommunicated from the church, and a current and a former church leader obtained protection orders, Bleazard said.
—Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for excommunicate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excommunicate
Verb
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Rename the file, banish it to some obscure folder.—
JD Barker,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
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Angels could be seen all around — some on the walls depicting Moses' life and death, and another above, on Michelangelo’s fresco, banishing Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Once used by Iran's monarchy to exile political prisoners, this rock is deceptively fertile on the ground.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
25 Mar. 2026
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In the Sixties in Greece, under military rule, the music of Mikis Theodorakis was prohibited by decree, its composer imprisoned and exiled.—
Christina Hioureas,
Rolling Stone,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Senate came to a deal on Friday morning to fund DHS, excluding appropriations for immigration enforcement, but the House Republicans rejected it.—
Tesfaye Negussie,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
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Overall, the district would have spent more than $3 million of taxpayer money on all of the Education Accelerated contracts — excluding travel expenses — if they had not been terminated last month, documents show.—
Jessica Seaman,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Moscow was expelled from the group, and the G8 became the G7.—
Leonie Kidd,
CNBC,
29 Mar. 2026
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House Republicans are pushing to expel Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress because of the allegations, and the findings by the Ethics Committee could bolster that effort.—
Caitlin Yilek,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The former prince Andrew has been pretty much ostracized from the British royal family since his arrest.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
16 Mar. 2026
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They’ve been ostracized from an industry that, for one dramatic night in March 2003, celebrated them as winners.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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She was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.—
Zachary Bynum,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
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Tremblay, her daughter said, was ejected from the plane upon impact and was thrown more than 300 feet — nearly the length of a football field — before slamming and skidding onto the tarmac.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Authorities had since dismissed her lawyers’ requests to send her to a hospital for urgent treatment.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
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There is a long history of women's pain being dismissed by doctors, incorrectly categorized as period pain or rooted in psychological distress.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Excommunicate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excommunicate. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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