“Decriminalized” or “Decriminalised”

Language

Decriminalized and decriminalised are both English terms.

Usage

Decriminalized is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while decriminalised is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available) 👇:

Term	US	UK	India	Philippines	Canada	Australia	Liberia	Ireland	New Zealand	Jamaica	Trinidad & Tobago	Guyana
decriminalized	99	46	46	100	95	36	0	45	56	100	100	0
decriminalised	1	54	54	0	5	64	0	55	44	0	0	0

• In the United States, there is a preference for "decriminalized" over "decriminalised" (99 to 1).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 54 to 46 preference for "decriminalised" over "decriminalized".
• In India, there is a 54 to 46 preference for "decriminalised" over "decriminalized".
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "decriminalized" over "decriminalised" (100 to 0).
• In Canada, there is a preference for "decriminalized" over "decriminalised" (95 to 5).
• In Australia, there is a 64 to 36 preference for "decriminalised" over "decriminalized".
• In Liberia, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "decriminalized" and "decriminalised".
• In Ireland, there is a 55 to 45 preference for "decriminalised" over "decriminalized".
• In New Zealand, there is a preference for "decriminalized" over "decriminalised" (56 to 44).
• In Jamaica, there is a preference for "decriminalized" over "decriminalised" (100 to 0).
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is a preference for "decriminalized" over "decriminalised" (100 to 0).
• In Guyana, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "decriminalized" and "decriminalised".

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use decriminalized or decriminalised with sample sentences.

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