legislate

verb

ˈle-jə-ˌslāt How to pronounce legislate (audio)
Definition of legislatenext
as in to enact
to put into effect through legislative or authoritative action wants the Congress to legislate new laws banning the use of these types of weapons

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 legislate Post-revolutionary period States legislated and regularly granted divorces. — Patricia Fersch, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 One year ago today, New York signed the Fashion Workers Act into law, legislating access to workplace protection for models, and enforcing tighter regulation policies for the management companies that represent them. — Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 19 June 2026 In a sizzling dissent for the court's three liberals, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson castigated the majority for diminishing not just individual religious rights, but the power of Congress to legislate. — Nina Totenberg, NPR, 23 June 2026 LeRoy, who hasn’t supported the Protect College Sports Act, sees issues under the Sherman Antitrust Act and can’t see how Congress can legislate economic regulations that prevent more competitive conferences from breaking away. — Teresa M. Walker, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for legislate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legislate
enact
Verb
  • The Islamic Republic is expected to enact unprecedented security measures, overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while the Basij paramilitary force will coordinate logistics, accommodation and crowd management across the various cities.
    — Emma Graham, CNBC, 4 July 2026
  • Passed as the second of three Reconstruction amendments, the 14th Amendment was enacted after the Civil War.
    — Ashley Mowreader, NBC news, 4 July 2026
Definition of enact

Browse Nearby Words

legions
legislate
legislated
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Legislate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legislate. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on legislate

Nglish: Translation of legislate for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All