law-abiding

adjective

law-abid·ing ˈlȯ-ə-ˌbī-diŋ

Synonyms of law-abiding next

: abiding by or obedient to the law

law-abiding citizens

law-abidingness noun

Examples of law-abiding in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There’s also the increasing prevalence of self-checkout kiosks, which also create an opportunity to steal — or might push law-abiding customers to give up on a malfunctioning scanner and walk out of the store. —

Marley Jay, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2023 The vast majority of Lake City rounds sold by retailers have gone to law-abiding citizens, from hunters and farmers to target shooters. —

Ben Dooley Emily Rhyne, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2023 The bill faced opposition from all 13 Senate Republicans and nine Senate Democrats, who argued that universal background checks would unfairly burden law-abiding gun owners. —

Silvia Foster-Frau, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2023 This results in lax policing across the U.S., where theft has gone unpunished for too long and criminals take advantage of lax prosecution at the expense of law-abiding business owners. —

WSJ, 24 Oct. 2023 In a sentencing memorandum, the defense attorney wrote that his client had lived a law-abiding life as the owner of a cellphone store in Culiacán until drug traffickers began using his services. —

Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2023 With its unplanned and unregulated growth (both in physical space and in population), the fort-turned-squatter-settlement brimmed with squalid conditions and all manner of vices, as well as law-abiding families, factories and businesses. —

Matt Benoit, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2023 But the latest batch of new laws seems to be the first time that the California governor and Legislature, in one particular case, have targeted law-abiding gun owners, not criminals. —

George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2023 Joe Biden’s critics often accuse him of waging a war on law-abiding Americans’ right to bear arms. —

Matt Ford, The New Republic, 18 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'law-abiding.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.