lawless

play

adjective law·less \ ˈlȯ-ləs \

Definition of lawless

1 :not regulated by or based on law

2 a :not restrained or controlled by law :unruly

b :illegal

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lawlessly

adverb

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lawlessness

noun

See lawless defined for English-language learners

See lawless defined for kids

Examples of lawless in a Sentence

the lawless society of the frontier
the lawless rioters were destroying everything in sight

Recent Examples of lawless from the Web

A July report from the United Nations showed that coca production in Colombia had reached levels not seen in two decades, complicating Colombia’s efforts to make its vast, lawless countryside more secure.

— jill colvin, The Seattle Times, "In Latin America, VP Pence threads needle on Venezuela," 14 Aug. 2017
The Ponca people call the march south and east the Trail of Tears, borrowing the term from the more famous Trail of Tears that was the result of the lawless enforcement of Indian Removal Act of 1830 by Steve Bannon's idol, Andrew Jackson.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Why the Keystone Battle, and Others Like It, Will Never End," 10 Aug. 2017
Among their first bad encounters are the Langmores, a lawless bunch who live in a few trailers by the water.

— hank stuever, kansascity, "Netflix’s relentless ‘Ozark’ gets drunk on an ice-chest full of redneck cliches," 20 July 2017
For centuries the archipelago was a lawless land visited only by whalers and explorers.

— brandon presser, Bloomberg.com, "Explore Pyramiden: The Forgotten City at the End of the World," 19 July 2017
The claim that New Orleans was on track to become more violent than lawless areas of South and Central American cities that have been besieged by drug cartel violence and civil unrest had some readers raising their eyebrows.

— kevin litten, NOLA.com, "Is Sen. John Kennedy right about New Orleans violent crime?," 14 July 2017
Libya’s lawless, desolate center and south provides a sanctuary for militants to reorganize, recruit, train and potentially plot for a comeback.

— hamza hendawi, The Seattle Times, "Militants find sanctuary in Libya’s wild south," 13 July 2017
To Ella and other people living in the area, the border region is not the lawless zone depicted in the media.

— alexis hodoyan-gastelum, Teen Vogue, "This Teen Legally Crossed The U.S-Mexico Border EVERY DAY To Get To School," 10 July 2017
Inner-city residents claim to want a quicker emergency response and a police department willing to deal with quality of life issues, such as non-stop gunplay and lawless young men on dirt bikes.

— phillip morris, cleveland.com, "In Cleveland's Glenville, some treat daily gunfire as just a noise nuisance: Phillip Morris," 9 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lawless.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.