UNLAWFULNESS Synonyms: 55 Similar and Opposite Words

unlawfulness

noun

Definition of unlawfulness

as in illegality

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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 unlawfulness In 1697 the Massachusetts General Court ordered a day of fasting and prayer to repent for the unlawfulness of the trials. — Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026 The appellate panel took issue with jury instructions that implied the mother's lack of consent could satisfy the unlawfulness element under the federal kidnapping statute. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026 But in a court-martial, a service member who argues that an order is unlawful has the burden of proving its unlawfulness. — Joshua Kastenberg, The Conversation, 16 Dec. 2025 Many people at Harvard and elsewhere feared that the university would reach a deal with the Administration before Judge Burroughs’s decision, because that would have meant that no court would declare the unlawfulness of the Administration’s actions toward academic institutions. — Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unlawfulness

Noun

The Founders never predicted that a president, his Cabinet, Department of Justice, Supreme Court and Congress would not challenge the blatant illegality that has been happening over the past two years.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
In an attempt to make the case against him, Pembrock commits a stunning act of illegality that would immediately have the case thrown out of court but at least provides the film a few moments of suspense.

— Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of illegality

Noun

Election experts have said many instances of noncitizens registering to vote are a result of administrative error or confusion on the part of the immigrant — not intentional criminality.

— Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
Investigators, however, believe there was no criminality and that the cause was an electrical fire in one of the fifth-floor apartments.

— Julian Roberts-Grmela, New York Daily News, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminality

Noun

Orange County prosecutors also charged Nguyen with animal cruelty and animal abuse by a caretaker, both felonies, and a sentencing enhancement alleging the personal use of a weapon.

— Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2026
Six of the paper’s journalists have been murdered during its three and a half decades of operation, including Anna Politkovskaya, an ardent critic of President Vladimir Putin who reported extensively on human rights abuses in Chechnya.

— Zahra Ullah, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of abuse

Noun

Another example of lawlessness was Trump putting his name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, subsequently denied by another sitting federal court judge.

— Miles J. Zaremski, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Oct. 2026
Ne-Yo endeared himself to a legion of women bruised by the very men who’d eventually steer R&B into an era of lawlessness.

— Clover Hope, Pitchfork, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of lawlessness

Noun

Room for Disagreement Kenyan critics of the AFCON infrastructure developments have argued that the projects have been an avenue for corruption and risk escalating Kenya’s $98 billion debt burden.

— Martin K.N Siele, semafor.com, 30 Oct. 2026
The students also demanded changes in the judiciary and urgent investigations in top-level corruption cases that might have been sidelined due to political pressure under Vucic.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of corruption

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unlawful

unlawfulness

unlay

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Style

“Unlawfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unlawfulness. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unlawfulness

noun

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