Definition of illegitimate
1 : not recognized as lawful offspring; specifically : born of parents not married to each other
2 : not rightly deduced or inferred : illogical
3 : departing from the regular : erratic
4a : not sanctioned by law : illegalb : not authorized by good usagec of a taxon : published but not in accordance with the rules of the relevant international code
illegitimately
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Examples of illegitimate in a Sentence
She thinks that my concerns are illegitimate.
They were fired from their jobs for illegitimate reasons.
Recent Examples of illegitimate from the Web
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That's not an illegitimate concern, but Louisiana shouldn't defend bad policy simply because there are some people who might personally like a bad policy.
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Similar measures had some success with other illegitimate rulers.
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The retired officers also argue that a potentially illegitimate court harms the United States’ ability to argue that, if American service members are taken captive, they should be treated under international law.
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King of the North and previously assumed to be Ned Stark’s illegitimate son — is also a rightful heir to the throne.
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In March, the FCC proposed new rules designed to thwart harassing and fraudulent calls, allowing phone companies to block robo-calls coming from what look like illegitimate phone numbers.
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The Oxford, Georgia resident is accused of selling certificates of authenticity that, the prosecutor says, were meant to vouch for software that was actually illegitimate.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'illegitimate'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
1536
First Known Use of illegitimate
1536
Other Legal Terms
ILLEGITIMATE Defined for English Language Learners
illegitimate
playDefinition of illegitimate for English Language Learners
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: born to a father and mother who are not married
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: not allowed according to rules or laws
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: not reasonable or fair
ILLEGITIMATE Defined for Kids
illegitimate
playDefinition of illegitimate for Students
: not accepted by the law as rightful an illegitimate ruler
Law Dictionary
illegitimate
playLegal Definition of illegitimate
1 : not recognized by the law as offspring; specifically : born out of marriage Editor's note: An illegitimate child is usually legitimated by his or her parents' later marriage. Illegitimate children generally have the same inheritance rights under intestate successions as legitimate children; statutes limiting their inheritance rights have been found to violate the equal protection clause.
2 : not valid according to law
illegitimate
nounLearn More about illegitimate
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for illegitimate Spanish Central: Translation of illegitimate Nglish: Translation of illegitimate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of illegitimate for Arabic speakers
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