as in lawfulness
the quality or state of being legal
the legitimacy of the military dictatorship was not recognized by most other nations
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Recent Examples of legitimacy
Prediction markets have been pushing hard to gain legitimacy among the public and policymakers as a legitimate platform where users can bet on everything from sports to the weather to geopolitical events.
—
ABC News, 12 June 2026
Ironically then, the state’s efforts to verify the legitimacy of ballots lengthen the count, which then leads to allegations that the count is being manipulated.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 11 June 2026
The indie media boom struck her as the moment the legitimacy hierarchy definitively broke open.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 June 2026
Trump has always relied upon interim appointments as much as possible, given their filial piety of the office holder to Trump, as their legitimacy is anchored only by his authority and not Congressional confirmation.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for legitimacy
ABC News, 12 June 2026
Ironically then, the state’s efforts to verify the legitimacy of ballots lengthen the count, which then leads to allegations that the count is being manipulated.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 11 June 2026
The indie media boom struck her as the moment the legitimacy hierarchy definitively broke open.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 June 2026
Trump has always relied upon interim appointments as much as possible, given their filial piety of the office holder to Trump, as their legitimacy is anchored only by his authority and not Congressional confirmation.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for legitimacy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legitimacy
Noun
-
That decision found a lower court judge who had sided with Khalil and freed him from a Louisiana lockup lacked the legal authority to weigh in on the lawfulness of the detention.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
22 May 2026
-
The ruling follows a legal challenge by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) over the lawfulness of a December 2022 parliament vote.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
However, the evaluation is focused specifically on what's known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the inspector general's office said.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
17 June 2026
-
Reclassification governs compounding legality, not FDA drug approval.—
Allison Palmer,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Legitimacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legitimacy. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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