How to say "prohibition" in Japanese

• 禁止きんしJLPT N3approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbThe default, all-purpose word for prohibition: the act of forbidding something by rule, law, or notice. Choose this whenever you mean a ban in general, from signs to regulations.
  喫煙きつえんは絶対ぜったい禁止きんし。↗

  Smoking is strictly prohibited.
• 禁断きんだんCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbCovers prohibition in the sense of something strictly forbidden, often a taboo such as forbidden love or forbidden substances. It carries a strong, dramatic nuance of an absolute taboo rather than an ordinary rule.
• 禁きんCommon
  nounA compact way to state a ban on a specific act, typically seen in signs and notices, such as a no-smoking rule. It is less a noun for 'prohibition' as a concept than a label announcing that something is banned.
  彼かれは一いち年ねん近ちかくもアルコール類るいを断ことわっていたが、お正月しょうがつの頃ころに禁きんを破やぶってまた元もとに戻もどってしまった。↗

  He had been dry for almost a year, but he fell off the wagon around New Year's Day.
• 禁制きんせいCommon
  suru verb, transitive verb, no-adjectiveRefers to prohibition imposed by authority, such as a formal ban or embargo issued by a government or ruler. It sounds formal and is not the word for everyday rules telling people not to do something.
• 差し止めさしとめCommon
  nounProhibition in the sense of stopping or withholding something—suspending payments, barring an action, or a legal injunction. Use it when the emphasis is on halting something, not on forbidding it in the abstract.
  そのニュースは当分とうぶんの間あいだ差し止さしとめになった。↗

  The news was suppressed for the time being.

Use 禁止 for the general act of banning something; 禁 for concise bans like smoking; 禁断 for forbidden taboos; 禁制 for formal prohibitions by authority; 「差し止め」 for halting an action in progress or legal injunctions.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 禁止きんしprohibition
• 禁断きんだんprohibition
• 禁きんban (e.g. on smoking)
• 禁制きんせいprohibition
• 差し止めさしとめprohibition
• 法度はっとban
• 禁令きんれいprohibition
• 禁則きんそくprohibition
• 禁戒きんかいprohibition (e.g. in Buddhism)
• 禁圧きんあつsuppression
• 禁止令きんしれいban
• 差し合いさしあいhindrance
• 戒めいましめprohibition
• 結界けっかいprohibition (of items, people, spirits, etc. that would hinder Buddhist practice)
• 禁酒法きんしゅほうProhibition (in the United States, 1920-1933)
• 停止ていしsuspension (of payment, a licence, etc.)