legality

noun le·gal·i·ty \ li-ˈga-lə-tē \

Updated on: 22 May 2018

Definition of legality

plural legalities

1 : attachment to or observance of law

2 : the quality or state of being legal : lawfulness

3 legalities plural : obligations imposed by law

See legality defined for kids

Examples of legality in a Sentence

the senator questioned the legality of the proposed espionage operation

Recent Examples of legality from the Web

Grayton Road Tavern shuttered the game May 4 to give DeWine's office time to render an opinion about the legality of the popular game.

— justin madden, cleveland.com, "The Queen of Hearts reigns as Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine allows popular tavern game to continue," 11 May 2018
To whip up bad feeling ever further, Oranje were then questioned over the legality of forward Rene van de Kerkhof's plaster-casted wrist, despite having played with it for the majority of the tournament up until then.

— SI.com, "World Cup Countdown: 10 Weeks to Go - When Hosts Argentina Edged the Netherlands In a Classic Final," 14 Apr. 2018
Intermodal solutions have gone nowhere, as parties fight over the legality of trucking the containers the last 25 miles to the landfill.

— paul page, WSJ, "Uber’s Rush to Shutter, a Stink Over Rail Deliveries and China Fires Back With Tariffs," 2 Apr. 2018
The debate over the legality of the legislation now returns to the lower court.

— lomi kriel, Houston Chronicle, "Chief: Houston police made 2 immigration inquiries since anti-sanctuary law," 14 Mar. 2018
Polanski, since then, has existed in a kind of limbo: of social status, of legality, of celebrity, of morality.

— megan garber, The Atlantic, "The Polanski Problem," 3 May 2018
The issue of legality versus compassion is one that Haillie Calderón, 22, keeps coming back to.

— refinery29.com, "How Do Pro-Life Latinas Feel About Abortion? It's Complicated," 30 Apr. 2018
The spending spree has left the police union outraged, taxpayers fuming and council members questioning its legality.

— dan klepal, ajc, "Ex-mayor Kasim Reed doles out $500k in bonuses, gifts on way out," 24 Apr. 2018
Apart from the campaign statements, Trump’s presidential tweets about the travel ban and last fall’s retweets of inflammatory videos that stoked anti-Islam sentiment all could feature in the court’s discussion of the travel ban’s legality.

— mark sherman, The Seattle Times, "Travel ban case is U.S. Supreme Court’s first dive into Trump policy," 23 Apr. 2018

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

First Known Use of legality

15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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legality Synonyms

Law Dictionary

legality

noun le·gal·i·ty \ li-ˈga-lə-tē \

legal Definition of legality

plural legalities

1 : attachment to or observance of law

2 : the quality or state of being legal : lawfulness

3 plural : obligations imposed by law

Learn More about legality

See words that rhyme with legality Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for legality Spanish Central: Translation of legality Nglish: Translation of legality for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of legality for Arabic speakers

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legality

Definition of legality

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