sanction
to give official approval or permission for something
Word origin: From Latin sancire, to make holy or ratify.
Sanction in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing sanction in a sentence.
The board sanctioned the new policy after months of debate.
The regulatory body refused to sanction the merger until the antitrust concerns were fully addressed.
Using “sanction” well
Sanction is notoriously contranymic: as a verb it means to give official approval, but as a noun (often plural) it can mean a penalty imposed to enforce compliance. Here the approval sense is intended, so let context decide.
More GRE words starting with S
to deliberately damage or obstruct something, especially in secret
an intensely sweet, calorie-free artificial sweetener
excessively sweet or sentimental in a cloying way
regarded as too important or sacred to be altered or criticized
having keen practical judgment and discernment
soundness of judgment and acuteness of discernment
most noticeable or important; standing out prominently
of a sickly yellowish or pale complexion
Questions about “sanction”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.