legitimacy Hear it!

legitimacy Definition

le·giti·macy (lə jitə mə sē)

noun

the quality or state of being legitimate

legitimacy Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • confer: There is no place for the church to confer legitimacy upon alternatives to these.
  • undermine: At times, he would weave arcane arguments to undermine the legitimacy of the committee.
  • bestow: Some officials have sought to bestow new legitimacy on long-standing disputes by recasting them as part of the antiterrorist crusade " .
  • lend: I don't include it in the FAQ because I don't want to lend legitimacy to his writings.
  • deny: The queen denying the legitimacy of her own son!
  • verify: An SSL certificate also verifies the legitimacy of your company to customers and acts as a security benchmark.

Adjective modifier

  • democratic: Such scrutiny is crucial to the democratic legitimacy of the Human Rights Act 1998.
  • spurious: Its master was even prepared to falsify charters to give its changed role a spurious legitimacy.
  • Democratic: Democratic legitimacy is not and never has been high on the list of EU priorities.
  • dubious: It is a creation of Western colonialism and is governed by people with somewhat dubious legitimacy.
  • questionable: On the other hand, as occupying forces, the US and UK governments have questionable legitimacy to reshape the Iraqi nation.
  • moral: Regardless of whom I save, however, my choice proves nothing about the moral legitimacy of experimenting on animals.

Modifies a noun

  • crisis: The legitimacy crisis in the United States is bound to deepen as a result of this election.

Noun used with modifier

  • lack: Meanwhile Eno has made clear why he thinks Blair's statements on Iraq lack legitimacy.

Preposition: in

  • eye: Capitalism has no legitimacy in the eyes of the working class.

Preposition: of

  • regime: The Americans offered diplomatic recognition to Vichy was a major factor in securing he legitimacy of the regime.
  • intervention: Paris holds one of the keys to the legitimacy of an armed intervention in Iraq.
  • war: To many within our country, there is considerable doubt over the legitimacy of the war with Iraq.
  • institution: It is the sign of a healthy society when the legitimacy of the institutions and people in whom we trust is tested.
  • state: For the Kurds, the problem is the legitimacy of the state itself.

Browse dictionary entries near legitimacy

  1. legit
  2. legist
  3. legislature
  4. legislator
  5. legislative intent
  6. legislative history
  7. legislative
  8. legislation
  9. legislate
  10. legis
  1. legitimate
  2. legitimatize
  3. legitimist
  4. legitimize
  5. legman
  6. legong
  7. Legree
  8. legroom
  9. legume
  10. leguminous