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lawful Definition

law·ful (lô′fəl)

adjective

  1. in conformity with the principles of the law; permitted by law a lawful act
  2. recognized by or established by law lawful debts
  3. obeying the law; law-abiding

lawful Related Forms

law′·fully adverb law′·ful·ness noun

lawful Synonyms

lawful

modif.

legitimate, legal, legalized, rightful, just, right, valid, statutory, passed, decreed, judged, commanded, ruled, enjoined, ordained, ordered, mandated, authorized, according to edict, constitutional, adjudged, legislated, enacted, official, according to fiat, enforced, protected, licit, vested, within the law, in conformity to the law, conformable with the law, legitimatized, canonical, established; see also legal 1, permitted.

Antonyms illegal*, unlawful*, illegitimate. See syn. study at legal.legal.

lawful Law Definition

adj

Permissible; not contravening a law.

lawful Usage Examples

Preposition: for

  • employer: There are no separate provisions for public holidays and it is lawful for the employer to count public holidays as part of the entitlement.
  • man: They asked, ' Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?

Infinitive complement

  • heal: Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus they asked him, ' Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
  • do: Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
  • pay: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?

Modifies a noun

  • impediment: I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I & .. may not be joined in matrimony to & .
  • interception: Cisco's " lawful interception " capability thus might help limit the amount of data that gets scooped up in the process.
  • excuse: It is an offense to have an article with a blade or point in a public place without good reason or lawful excuse.
  • occupier: This states that rewards will be paid to the finder providing he has valid permission from the lawful occupier.
  • custody: To recapture a person who has escaped from lawful custody.
  • wedlock: If Poland does not wish to enter into lawful wedlock with Russia, it is not for us to interfere with her.

Modifying Another Word

  • perfectly: But it is perfectly lawful to employ someone who is still in the initial stages of applying for a NI no.
  • otherwise: A bind-over cannot of itself prevent someone returning to an otherwise lawful protest but it is an inhibiting factor.
  • entirely: There may be situations in which it is entirely lawful to keep an item designed or adapted for use in an animal fight.
  • not: Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?
  • still: Given that Corel has ceased publishing it, is redistribution of WP 8.0 DPE for Linux still lawful?

Used with adjective complement

  • remain: This means that such discrimination remains lawful by default.
  • consider: Two hundred years ago it was considered entirely lawful for a husband to use force to " chastise " his wife.
  • make: In 1897, the use of metric units for trade was made lawful.
  • become: The use of metric weights and measures in trade only became lawful in Britain in 1897.