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illegitimate Definition

il·le·giti·mate (il′ə jitə mət)

adjective

  1. born of parents not married to each other; bastard
  2. incorrectly deduced: not logical an illegitimate conclusion
  3. contrary to law or rules; illegal; unlawful
  4. not in keeping with accepted usage: said of words or phrases

Etymology: < ML illegitimatus, pp. of illegitimare, to make illegitimate < L illegitimus, not lawful: see in- & legitimate

illegitimate Related Forms
il′·le·giti·mately adverb
illegitimate Synonyms

illegitimate

modif.

  1. Unlawful

    contraband, wrong, illicit, irregular; see illegal, wicked 1.

  2. Born of unmarried parents

    born out of wedlock, natural, fatherless, bastard, misbegotten, unlawfully begotten, of illicit union, baseborn, unfathered, byblown, born on the wrong side of the sheet*.

  3. Illogical

    twisted, unsound, incorrect, unacceptable; see illogical, wrong 2.

illegitimate Law Definition

adj

  1. Of a child, that he or she was born to parents not married to one another.
  2. Wrongful or unlawful.
illegitimate Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • entirely: But telecoms analyst John Delaney of Ovum said T-Mobile's decision was " not entirely illegitimate " .
  • not: The notice exercising the power of sale was not illegitimate or improper.
  • therefore: It becomes violence, and therefore illegitimate, only in the eye of the beholder.
  • morally: Of course, the anarchist must still explain why hierarchies emerge and are so durable if they are so clearly morally illegitimate.
  • completely: They are trying to portray it as a completely illegitimate result and Oona King was even on the Today program this morning.
  • politically: Sir Jeremy has called the war " politically illegitimate " and his book is being blocked.

Infinitive complement

  • ask: It's illegitimate to ask when time began if the only times are within time.

Modifies a noun

  • recombination: Molecular analysis of DNA junctions produced by illegitimate recombination in human cells.
  • offspring: I have often heard stories of the illegitimate offspring of top Nazis.
  • son: Leonardo was the illegitimate son of a local lawyer in the small town of Vinci in the Tuscan region.
  • daughter: Eliza was the illegitimate daughter of Jane, baptized on 7 February 1819.
  • birth: The number of illegitimate births during 1846 was 111.
  • child: He has an illegitimate child by the second wife who lives in Germany.

Used with adjective complement

  • declare: Their son King Edward V is therefore declared illegitimate.
  • bear: John was born illegitimate at Cottingham as John SWAN, he moved to Elizabeth | Her parents were James and Jain.
  • consider: The child is considered illegitimate in terms of intestacy.
  • become: Basic democratic rights are becoming incompatible with the neoliberal agenda, which thereby becomes even more illegitimate.
  • seem: Beyond very serious abnormalities it seems illegitimate to be able to choose certain traits.
  • denounce: Hermione gives birth to a baby girl, Perdita, who Leontes denounces as illegitimate, and casts her out into the wilderness.

Preposition: in

  • term: The child is considered illegitimate in terms of intestacy.

Browse dictionary entries near illegitimate

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