illegitimacy Hear it!

illegitimacy Definition

il·le·giti·macy (il′ə jitə mə sē)

noun pl. -·cies

the fact, condition, or quality of being illegitimate

Etymology: < illegitimate + -cy

illegitimacy Synonyms

illegitimacy

n.

illegitimateness, bastardy, bastardism, illegitimation.

illegitimacy Law Definition

n

The status of being born to parents who are not married to one another.
illegitimacy Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • debt: Understanding the illegitimacy of the debt reinforces the arguments for debt cancelation, and opens up some new options for accomplishing this.

Converse of object

  • denote: An alias, often abbreviated to ' als ' in the registers did not always denote illegitimacy, however.

Preposition: at

  • heart: Surely, it must be folly to place illegitimacy at the heart of the constitution as a deliberate principle.

Adjective modifier

  • alleged: According to William, Athelstan's alleged illegitimacy was the grounds that one Alfred used in an attempt to prevent Athelstan being crowned.
  • encouraging: Much on the media is promoting promiscuity, maligning marriage, and encouraging illegitimacy.
  • e.g.: Modern society has challenged negative stereotypes about identity e.g. illegitimacy, race.
  • political: The real causes include political illegitimacy, corruption and gross macroeconomic mismanagement.
  • own: My mother hid her own illegitimacy this way for a long time.

Modifies a noun

  • rate: By the end of the war the illegitimacy rate was about 6 % .

Browse dictionary entries near illegitimacy

  1. illegibly
  2. illegible
  3. illegally obtained evidence
  4. illegalize
  5. illegal
  6. illative
  7. illation
  8. Illampu
  9. ill-wisher
  10. ill will
  1. illegitimate
  2. illiberal
  3. illicit
  4. Illimani
  5. illimitable
  6. illinium
  7. Illinois
  8. Illinoisan
  9. illiquid
  10. illite