10 Better Ways To Say “Blacklist” And “Whitelist”

“Blacklist” and “whitelist” are opposite in meaning. However, they are fairly controversial words, and it would help you to understand a few better alternatives you can use. This article will help you to work out some of the best choices we have available.

What Can I Say Instead Of “Blacklist”?

There are plenty of great alternatives we can use for “blacklist.” Here are some of the best ones:

• Blocked list
• Banned list
• Deny list
• Rejected list
• Exclusions

The preferred versions are either “blocked list” or “banned list.” We can use both to show that something has been banned or denied from being accepted. It works well in all formats where a “blacklist” might have been required, which is what makes them good choices.

Blocked List

“Blocked list” works well when we want to show that something is “blocked.” This means that if it attempts to become part of a system somehow, it will be physically “blocked” from entering. There are many ways we can use this word to refer to “blacklists.”

It might help you to check out the following examples to see it in action:

• You will find a list of companies that I’ve included on the blocked list. We should not engage in business with any of them.
• You are now on the blocked list, and I don’t think I can remove you again.
• I should have put this on the blocked list the second I saw the blip in the system. Now we’ve been hacked!

Banned List

“Banned list” works really well to show that someone or something is completely “banned.” A “ban” means that there will no longer be accessible for the thing into the system, which helps to show that something has happened to cause someone to take drastic action.

We can see how a “banned list” works in the following examples:

• We should verify that he is not on the banned list of participants before inviting him in again.
• I have found that many lines of my code are actually on the banned list, which is making my completion times much longer.
• I have made sure to include the banned list for your reference sir, and I hope it proves helpful to you.

Deny List

“Deny list” works when we want to show that things will be “denied” automatically. It might mean that those things are not currently in the system. However, if they should appear, we will make sure to remove their access and “deny” them.

These examples will help you to understand more about it:

• The code in the deny list keeps seeming to come up whenever we try and run the program.
• We’ve put many of the companies on our deny list, which will help us to flesh out the competition.
• You should not have been on the deny list, but there’s nothing we can do to change it now!

Rejected List

“Rejected list” works to show that things will be “rejected.” It can show that these things have previously been a part of a system or event, but they have since become “rejected,” meaning they are no longer granted access.

Here are a few ways we might see this in action:

• He put me on the rejected list for the party because I didn’t bring him any beer!
• I don’t know why this bug was on the rejected list because I hadn’t even heard of it.
• We should make sure not to put too many of our own products on the rejected list.

Exclusions

“Exclusions” works when we want to show which things are expressly “excluded.” It helps us to know this to completely remove them from the situation whenever we need to. This is helpful in many cases when setting up “blacklists.”

Here are some helpful examples to show you how it works:

• I’ve made sure to put them both on the list of exclusions so that they will not be bothering you again, sir.
• We’ve put the newly-reported bugs into the list of exclusions, and hopefully, that’ll fix the issue.
• I’ve made sure to check out the exclusions, and I have seen a few things on there that probably don’t belong.

What Can I Say Instead Of “Whitelist”?

We can also show you some interesting alternatives to using “whitelist.” Here is a selection of the best ones:

• Allow list
• Unblocked list
• Permit list
• Accept list
• Inclusions

The preferred version is “allow list.” It works well when we want to show that something has special permissions. It can allow access for certain things to get by in many contexts, which is why it’s a suitable choice to replace the original “whitelist.”

Allow List

“Allow list” works well when we want to show that some things are “allowed.” Anything that we write into this list will have special permissions that might not otherwise be accessible. This helps us to make sure everything is working correctly with the intended things.

Here are some ways we can make it work:

• Your name is not on the allow list, so I’m not going to let you in.
• I’ll have to make an exception for this and put it on the allow list. Thank you for letting me know about it.
• This bug has been put on the allow list because we actually think it will be beneficial for us to learn more about it.

Unblocked List

“Unblocked list” works when we want to show that something is not “blocked.” We can use it for things that have never been blocked or things that were previously blocked but have since had their permissions granted again.

It might help you to see this one in action, so here is how it works:

• I’ve prepared a few names of the people I want to see on the unblocked list for this campaign going forward.
• We’ve made sure to put all the software necessary for this project on the unblocked list.
• We have included your new website on the unblocked list, so people can access it at work again.

Permit List

“Permit list” works when we want to show that something has been granted “permission” to do something. It allows us to work with names or objects, which will help us to give the correct permissions without overlooking anything in the procedure.

It would help for you to check out the following examples:

• Please refer to the permit list to see which of these cars are actually allowed to park in this warehouse.
• You are not part of the permit list, so you’ll need to speak to the director if you want to try and access the site.
• I can’t find the error on this permit list, so I have absolutely no idea how it got into the system!

Accept List

“Accept list” shows that things will be “accepted” when they arrive. Even if they are not always part of the system, it means that should they choose to appear, they will be “accepted” on site. It works for both people and objects, depending on the context.

These examples will help you to make a little more sense of it:

• We have made sure to include all of the former employees’ names on the accept list for the event.
• The accept list looks a little bare, and we should make sure to include a few more names before it starts.
• I would like to know how you got onto the accept list without my knowledge.

Inclusions

“Inclusions” is the opposite of “exclusions” from the blacklist section. We can use this to show which things are “included” in a list. This allows them to pass through without any questions, which is useful when creating any type of “whitelist.”

Check out these examples to see how it works:

• We have made the necessary inclusions available for all those who need them.
• You should check out the list of inclusions to see whether we can allow your software into the system.
• We made sure to check the inclusions thoroughly before going live with this.

Is “Blacklist” And “Whitelist” Politically Correct?

Now that we’ve seen the best alternatives let’s quickly circle back to the original terms. Some people think they are controversial, so let’s look more into that.

“Blacklist” and “whitelist” are politically correct. They are not used to insult races or discriminate against anyone. They merely use the colors “black” to show banned things and “white” to show accepted things.

However, if someone does take offense from these words, that doesn’t give you a right to use them in front of them. You should make sure to be conscious of other people’s feelings in this regard because you do not want to insult anyone.

Of course, if you’re specifically using “blacklist” or “whitelist” to be racist or discriminatory in some way, then that’s where the issues come from. It can be very dangerous to do this.

Is “Whitelist” Better Than “Blacklist”?

“Whitelist” is better than “blacklist” if you want something to be accepted. Since a “whitelist” gives special exceptions to all the things on the list, it is a better word inherently. “Blacklist” shows things that are not accepted and therefore removed.