legitimate

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adjective le·git·i·mate \ li-ˈji-tə-mət \

Definition of legitimate

1 a :lawfully begotten; specifically :born in wedlock

b :having full filial rights and obligations by birth

a legitimate child

2 :being exactly as purposed :neither spurious nor false

a legitimate grievance

a legitimate practitioner

3 a :accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirements

a legitimate government

b :ruling by or based on the strict principle of hereditary right

a legitimate king

4 :conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards

a legitimate advertising expenditure

a legitimate inference

5 :relating to plays acted by professional actors but not including revues, burlesque, or some forms of musical comedy

the legitimate theater

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legitimately

adverb

See legitimate defined for English-language learners

See legitimate defined for kids

Examples of legitimate in a Sentence

Law books were getting thicker by the week with Supreme Court decisions barring legitimate claims because they weren't timely filed. —John Grisham, The Chamber, 1995
Even in many courtrooms, where there is valid concern about the privacy of defendants, judges recognize that camera coverage serves a legitimate public interest. —New Republic, 22 Feb. 1993
He was indeed already a legitimate child according to the law of Scotland, by the subsequent marriage of his parents. —Sir Walter Scott, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, 1818
legitimate means for achieving success
the legitimate use of firearms
There's no legitimate reason for prescribing this medication to a child.

Recent Examples of legitimate from the Web

The defense has denied that contention, saying the sheriff was only doing legitimate campaign fundraising, and did not use the amount of money collected to determine anything with towing operations.

— craig lyons, Post-Tribune, "Buncich denies wielding influence in towing contracts," 21 Aug. 2017
The annulment news from last week gives Jon Snow the more legitimate claim to the Iron Throne, and many fans have wondered if that is what will cause a rift between him and Daenerys.

— joanna robinson, vanityfair.com, "Game of Thrones: The Ominous Jon and Dany Foreshadowing You Might Have Missed," 20 Aug. 2017
Once the constituent assembly is created, the opposition will likely lose all legitimate political power.

— j. weston phippen, The Atlantic, "Venezuela's Deadline," 26 July 2017
While diversity itself is a legitimate goal of any inclusive democracy, the importance of Black women leadership goes well beyond browning up the halls of political power.

— glynda carr, Essence.com, "Getting Out Of The ‘Sunken Place’ Of Politics: Black Women Are Key To Future Progressive Wins," 25 July 2017
Arenado is having a career year in what has been a career of consecutive career years; the third baseman leads the league in both defensive WAR (1.9) and extra-base hits (56, after tonight) and is a legitimate MVP candidate.

— stephanie apstein, SI.com, "Nolan Arenado had the best game that no Rockies fan saw," 20 July 2017
Based on the nature of this corpus of claims of voter fraud—which have often used bad or simply nonexistent data to challenge legitimate voters—

— vann r. newkirk ii, The Atlantic, "Trump's Voter-Fraud Commission Has Its First Meeting," 19 July 2017
Yet Dr. Steven Feinsilver, the director of sleep medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, stresses that mental fatigue is very much legitimate.

— katie heaney, The Cut, "Why Sitting at Your Computer All Day Can Wipe You Out," 19 July 2017
The administration’s definition of legitimate family ties to the U.S. excludes grandparents, aunts, uncles and others. ‘

— kartikay mehrotra, Bloomberg.com, "Trump Team Seeks to Salvage Travel Ban After Judge Limits Scope," 14 July 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of legitimate

Middle English legitimat, from Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimare to legitimate, from Latin legitimus legitimate, from leg-, lex law

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First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

legitimate Synonyms

Synonyms

lawful, legit [slang], legal, licit

Antonyms

illegal, illegitimate, illicit, lawless, unlawful, wrongful

Related Words

allowable, authorized, noncriminal, permissible; justifiable, warrantable; constitutional; de jure, regulation, statutory; good, innocent, just, proper, right

Near Antonyms

bad, corrupt, evil, immoral, iniquitous, reprobate, sinful, wicked, wrong; banned, criminal, forbidden, guilty, impermissible, outlawed, prohibited, unauthorized, unjust; under-the-counter, under-the-table; nonconstitutional, unconstitutional

Synonym Discussion of legitimate

lawful, legal, legitimate, licit mean being in accordance with law. lawful may apply to conformity with law of any sort (such as natural, divine, common, or canon).

- the lawful sovereign

legal applies to what is sanctioned by law or in conformity with the law, especially as it is written or administered by the courts.

- legal residents of the state

legitimate may apply to a legal right or status but also, in extended use, to a right or status supported by tradition, custom, or accepted standards.

- a perfectly legitimate question about taxes

licit applies to a strict conformity to the provisions of the law and applies especially to what is regulated by law.

- the licit use of drugs by doctors

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

legitimate

play

verb le·git·i·mate \ li-ˈji-tə-ˌmāt \

Definition of legitimate

legitimated; legitimating

transitive verb

:to make (someone or something) legitimate (see ¹legitimate):

a (1) :to give legal status or authorization to

(2) :to show or affirm to be justified

(3) :to lend authority or respectability to

b :to give (a child born out of wedlock) the same legal status as a child born in wedlock

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legitimation

play \li-ˌji-tə-ˈmā-shən\ noun

—

legitimator

play \li-ˈji-tə-ˌmā-tər\ noun

See legitimate defined for English-language learners

Examples of legitimate in a Sentence

Which comes first, the desire to legitimate euthanasia or the nullifying of a distinction between killing and allowing to die? —Daniel Callahan, Commonweal, 2 June 2000
Poland has ceased being a nation with even a pretense of Communist rule, a rule that is legitimated by Marxist ideology. —Irving Kristol, Wall Street Journal, 11 Jan. 1982
… they are more concerned with the ways in which schools and colleges legitimate and maintain inequality than with the ways they devalue and restrict personal autonomy. —Christopher Jencks, New York Times Book Review, 15 Feb. 1976
slang words legitimated by usage
Her tendency to be secretive only serves to legitimate their suspicions.

Recent Examples of legitimate from the Web

Over the course of their epic careers, the rivals legitimated the use of cosmetics for respectable women, along the way perfecting such vanity-table staples as the lipstick tube and the mascara wand.

— amy fine collins, HWD, "War Paint, the Broadway Musical About Dueling Beauty Queens, Heads to the Great White Way," 2 Mar. 2017
By Pankaj Mishra Back in the 19th century, powerful men legitimating cruel inequalities thought phrenology was objective.

— pankaj mishra and leslie jamison, New York Times, "Is It Possible for a Writer to Be Objective?," 3 Jan. 2017

Origin and Etymology of legitimate

see ¹legitimate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

LEGITIMATE Defined for English Language Learners

legitimate

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adjective

Definition of legitimate for English Language Learners

: allowed according to rules or laws
: real, accepted, or official
: fair or reasonable

legitimate

play

verb

Definition of legitimate for English Language Learners

: to make (something) real, accepted, or official
: to show that (something or someone) is fair or reasonable

LEGITIMATE Defined for Kids

legitimate

play

adjective le·git·i·mate \ li-ˈji-tə-mət \

Definition of legitimate for Students

1 :accepted by the law as rightful :lawful

a legitimate heir

2 :being right or acceptable

a legitimate excuse

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legitimately

adverb

Law Dictionary

legitimate

play

adjective le·git·i·mate \ lə-ˈji-tə-mət \

legal Definition of legitimate

1 :conceived or born of parents lawfully married to each other or having been made through legal procedure equal in status to one so conceived or born; also :having rights and obligations under the law as the child of such birth

2 :being neither spurious nor false

a legitimate grievance

3 :being in accordance with law or with established legal forms and requirements

a legitimate government

4 :conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards

a legitimate claim of entitlement

a legitimate business reason

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legitimately

adverb

Origin and Etymology of legitimate

Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimare to give legal status to, from Latin legitimus legally sanctioned, from leg-, lex law

legitimate

play

transitive verb le·git·i·mate \ lə-ˈji-tə-ˌmāt \

legal Definition of legitimate

legitimated; legitimating

:to make legitimate: as

a :to give legal status or authorization to

b :to show or affirm to be justified or have merit

c :to put (an illegitimate child) in the state of a child born of married parents before the law by legal means — compare filiate

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legitimation

play \lə-ˌji-tə-ˈmā-shən\ noun

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legitimate

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legitimately

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