legally

adverb

le·​gal·​ly ˈlē-gə-lē 

1

: in a legal manner : in accordance with the law

a transfer that was not done legally

a drug that can now be legally bought and sold in many countries

2

: from the point of view of law

Legally, she had no claim to the estate.

They were not legally obligated to provide assistance.

a person who is legally blind [=who is blind according to the legal definition of blindness]

legally drunk [=drunk according to the legal definition of drunkenness]

Synonyms of legally

• ethically
• fairly
• morally
• honorably
• fair
• cleanly
• clean

Examples of legally in a Sentence

that's not a move that can be made legally in chess

Recent Examples on the Web

The franchise legally resides in Utah, which has one of the lowest minimum wage laws in the country. — Sam Blum, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Some had worked in the country legally and others had been undocumented. — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2026

While distillation can be done legally, Klein says that’s not what’s happening here. — Kate Rooney,paige Tortorelli, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026

And Yiannopoulos, who entered the US legally on May 14, 2019, according to the DHS, has frequently called for aggressive immigration enforcement in posts on his X account over the past year. — Jack Guy, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for legally

• illegally