illegitimate

adjective

ˌi-li-ˈji-tə-mət How to pronounce illegitimate (audio)
Definition of illegitimatenext
1
as in spurious
born to a father and mother who are not married despite being illegitimate, Alexander Hamilton rose to greatness

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law an illegitimate use of campaign contributions for personal expenses

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unreasonable
not using or following good reasoning made several illegitimate inferences

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of illegitimate That does not automatically mean every lawsuit involving a president and an executive agency is illegitimate. — Andrew Leahey, Forbes.com, 29 May 2026 Trump has called those prosecutions illegitimate and politically motivated, while his critics have noted that they were brought after long investigations by career prosecutors and independent counsel. — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026 Trump proposed to distribute the money from a settlement of his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service to people deemed the victims of illegitimate Justice Department investigations. — Bart Jansen, USA Today, 28 May 2026 After testing against other economic variables that may have contributed to higher costs, and comparing housing activity in high-fraud ZIP codes to low-fraud ones in the same county, the researchers found illegitimate PPP loans to be one of the core drivers of housing prices. — Tristan Bove, Fortune, 29 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for illegitimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegitimate
  1. spurious
  2. unlawful
  3. unreasonable
  4. misbegotten
  5. illicit
  6. irrational
  7. adopted
  8. criminal
Adjective
  • They may be based on a hunch, on data, on many hours of in-depth viewing and scouting, on some spurious AI nonsense, on something a guy in the pub told us.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 7 June 2026
  • Now that same leader can be felled by an Instagram pile-on or a spurious Substack rumor, and is likelier to shy from the long, slow, gritty work of governance.
    — Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
Definition of spurious
Adjective
  • Kayden Bordley, 19, faces one count each of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action, according to a Jackson County charging document.
    — Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 7 July 2026
  • The hours-long pandemonium involved some teenaged children and young adults throwing mortars, fireworks and more at those who crowded about and at police officers, a grocery store getting merchandise stolen and an unlawful assembly declared.
    — Sierra van der Brug, Oc Register, 6 July 2026
Definition of unlawful
Adjective
  • If these requirements are not met, the search is unreasonable and therefore unlawful, and evidence obtained in that search cannot be used in court, barring a good-faith exception.
    — Anne Toomey McKenna, The Conversation, 30 June 2026
  • Justices ruled that sweeping use of cellphone data requires a warrant, a decision applying the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, to new technology.
    — Josh Feldman, NBC news, 30 June 2026
Definition of unreasonable
Adjective
  • At next week’s meeting, Kevin Warsh must vigorously attack this misbegotten idea, the Phillips Curve.
    — Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • Perfection is inhuman, and pretensions to it are both doomed and misbegotten.
    — Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Definition of misbegotten
Adjective
  • As a result, the bill would leave parts of the crypto ecosystem vulnerable to exploitation by terrorists, sanctions evaders, fraudsters, and other illicit actors under the guise of technological neutrality.
    — Richard Nephew, Fortune, 2 July 2026
  • Though the film ends with Lori and John getting married (despite Ted's various illicit shenanigans), Ted 2 reveals that the pair have divorced.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 1 July 2026
Definition of illicit
Adjective
  • The reflex, from a distance, is to call this irrational.
    — Tyler Evans, Sun Sentinel, 28 June 2026
  • If people believe regulatory caution invalidates every legal claim, courts may look irrational.
    — Alex Smolak, STAT, 27 June 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • The adopted operating budget for 2026 was $883 million, a number that could inch closer to $1 billion in 2027.
    — Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 16 June 2026
  • For now, the fish are functioning fine in their adopted creek.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
Definition of adopted
Adjective
  • Kayden Bordley, 19, faces one count each of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action, according to a Jackson County charging document.
    — Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 7 July 2026
  • The Chino Police Department is leading the criminal investigation.
    — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 7 July 2026
Definition of criminal

Browse Nearby Words

illegitimacy
illegitimate
ill-fated
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Cite this Entry

“Illegitimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegitimate. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of illegitimate for Spanish Speakers

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