1
as in spurious
born to a father and mother who are not married
despite being illegitimate, Alexander Hamilton rose to greatness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law
an illegitimate use of campaign contributions for personal expenses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unreasonable
not using or following good reasoning
made several illegitimate inferences
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of illegitimate
Many of the campaigns have been more classic—for example, earlier this year, a wave of fake GitHub pages appeared for LastPass, with hackers using SEO tactics on Google and Bing to boost the illegitimate pages.
—
PC Magazine, 25 Oct. 2025
Philosophical questions had not usually been regarded as illegitimate or meaningless—not, at least, by philosophers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
In addition, there is the servant Smerdyakov, presumed to be the illegitimate child of Fyodor and the intellectually disabled Lizaveta, nicknamed Stinking Lizaveta.
—Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
Also endangering the family name and business is a crooked deal made by Byron Hedges (Jack Gleeson), an illegitimate cousin helping Guinness expand into America, that promises 15% of all American profits to the Fenian Brotherhood.
—Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illegitimate
PC Magazine, 25 Oct. 2025
Philosophical questions had not usually been regarded as illegitimate or meaningless—not, at least, by philosophers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
In addition, there is the servant Smerdyakov, presumed to be the illegitimate child of Fyodor and the intellectually disabled Lizaveta, nicknamed Stinking Lizaveta.
—Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
Also endangering the family name and business is a crooked deal made by Byron Hedges (Jack Gleeson), an illegitimate cousin helping Guinness expand into America, that promises 15% of all American profits to the Fenian Brotherhood.
—Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illegitimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegitimate
Adjective
-
Tech billionaire Elon Musk came under fire this year for a gesture that drew comparisons to a Nazi salute at President Donald Trump’s second-term inauguration and promoting spurious claims of white genocide in South Africa on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter).—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
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Xi Jinping was only nine years old in 1962, when his father, a senior member of Mao’s government, was purged on spurious charges, including approving the publication of a novel about his mentor.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Louisville police say anything that goes into the air or explodes is illegal for average citizens.—
James Bruggers,
The Courier-Journal,
5 July 2017
-
Official fireworks shows took place over the city, and illegal pyrotechnics lit up the sky everywhere in between.—
Lisa Beebe,
Los Angeles Magazine,
5 July 2017
Adjective
-
Civil Code Section 4740 grandfathers rental prohibitions, while Section 4741 bans rental prohibitions and unreasonable restrictions.—
Kelly G. Richardson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Nov. 2025
-
But this is perhaps an artificial high tempo, dictated by an unreasonable number of substitutes.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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His performance as the deadly Irish villain Bullseye was one of the few high points for this misbegotten Ben Affleck superhero vehicle, a modest hit at the time that nobody — not even Affleck — likes now.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
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Dennings, 39, tells us about her own misbegotten Halloween attire and more.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Christina Leona Cowens, 41, was initially arrested last week on suspicion of felony grand theft, along with misdemeanor counts of unlawful disposal of human remains and attempting to conceal a death.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
11 Nov. 2025
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Several organizations have sued the administration, saying the cancellations were unlawful and that they are owed thousands of dollars in outstanding expenses.—
NPR,
NPR,
10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Satire is brilliant for exposing the folly of humans, especially those in power and those working in bad faith—the hypocrites and the frauds—and can be particularly potent when set in irrational or dystopic times.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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But why are these fears irrational?—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Recent investigations like OpenLux and the 2017 series Panama Papers, however, reveal how bad actors also sometimes use these havens to launder illicit cash and evade taxes.—
Deena Sabry,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Sliwa, the Republican nominee, told Fox News Digital that a Mamdani mayoralty would expand prostitution and trafficking across the city and cement Roosevelt Avenue’s reputation as a red-light corridor of illicit activity and violence.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Let sound political prescience but take the place of an unreasoning prejudice, and this will be done.—
Frederick Douglass,
The Atlantic,
16 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Illegitimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegitimate. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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