Word family noun crime criminal criminologist criminology adjective criminal incriminating verb incriminate criminalize ≠ decriminalize adverb criminally
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdecriminalizede‧crim‧in‧a‧lize (also decriminalise British English) /diːˈkrɪmənəlaɪz/ verb [transitive] SCLLEGALto state officially that something is not illegal anymore a campaign to decriminalize cannabis —decriminalization /diːˌkrɪmənəlaɪˈzeɪʃən $ -lə-/ noun [uncountable]→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
decriminalize• Plenty of men and women think prostitution should be decriminalized.• The chief of police believes marijuana use should be decriminalized.• He has openly said that he favours decriminalizing soft drugs.• If the United States wants to end drug-related crime, it has one Gordian-knot option: decriminalize the stuff. 