1
as in spurious
born to a father and mother who are not married
despite being illegitimate, Alexander Hamilton rose to greatness
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law
an illegitimate use of campaign contributions for personal expenses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unreasonable
not using or following good reasoning
made several illegitimate inferences
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of illegitimate
And use the company’s publicly available number, not the one the caller provides, which is probably illegitimate.
—
Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2025
Trump himself has suggested moral equivalence between the two sides, claiming Ukraine was at fault for provoking the war, that President Zelensky was illegitimate and that the U.S. should recognize Russia’s annexations of Ukrainian territory.
—Eric Green, Time, 30 Apr. 2025
Coogler cast Jordan as Adonis Johnson, an aspiring fighter who is the illegitimate (and unacknowledged) son of Rocky Balboa’s nemesis turned friend, Apollo Creed.
—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
Among them, pyramid schemes, membership fee fakes, credit repair cons, dubious health offers, fictitious diploma schools and illegitimate gaming services.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illegitimate
Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2025
Trump himself has suggested moral equivalence between the two sides, claiming Ukraine was at fault for provoking the war, that President Zelensky was illegitimate and that the U.S. should recognize Russia’s annexations of Ukrainian territory.
—Eric Green, Time, 30 Apr. 2025
Coogler cast Jordan as Adonis Johnson, an aspiring fighter who is the illegitimate (and unacknowledged) son of Rocky Balboa’s nemesis turned friend, Apollo Creed.
—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
Among them, pyramid schemes, membership fee fakes, credit repair cons, dubious health offers, fictitious diploma schools and illegitimate gaming services.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illegitimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegitimate
Adjective
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Trade and the Economy To make the case for his tariff policy, Mr. Trump has turned to a stream of misleading statistics and spurious claims about trade history.—
Jamie Leventhal,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
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Claims of being able to nail down an exact date and time are spurious and carry with them a huge amount of uncertainty.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Official fireworks shows took place over the city, and illegal pyrotechnics lit up the sky everywhere in between.—
Lisa Beebe,
Los Angeles Magazine,
5 July 2017
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Louisville police say anything that goes into the air or explodes is illegal for average citizens.—
James Bruggers,
The Courier-Journal,
5 July 2017
Adjective
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In a unanimous opinion, the justices said courts can look beyond the exact moment a police officer is using deadly force to determine if the force was unreasonable.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
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Given the high degree of regulation and data privacy concerns within our industry, this isn’t an unreasonable question, to say nothing of the cost of bespoke software solutions.—
Tom Hughes,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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The federal government itself also has a near-monopoly on the market for economically ruinous student loans—the very loans that are themselves disproportionately responsible for abetting the modern four-year college's misbegotten status as a necessary rite of passage to achieve the American dream.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
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The logic of the intelligence cutoff is straightforward, if misbegotten.—
The Editors,
National Review,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Two waste companies denied unlawful dumping, with one saying state law allows compostable material to be disposed on farmland and other properties for beneficial use.—
Susanne Rust,
Los Angeles Times,
11 May 2025
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The vehicle eventually leaves the area after the Worcester Police Department arrived and declared an unlawful assembly, threatening arrest.—
Greg Norman,
FOXNews.com,
10 May 2025
Adjective
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Just discerning what worries are irrational and unproductive can be a great start in reducing them.—
Hannah Nwoko,
Parents,
1 May 2025
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Advertisement Advertisement The only thing falling quicker than Washington’s patience with the White House is the U.S. economy, which has been rocked by fears of a trade war fueled by escalating and irrational tariffs.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Zhao, who in 2023 stepped down from his role at Binance as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. over the illicit finance charges, remains a major shareholder of Binance.—
Trump's stablecoin chosen for $2 billion Abu Dhabi investment in Binance, co-founder says Thursday,,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
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The overwhelming majority of illicit vapes are made in China—including mine, which, according to its packaging, was manufactured in Hong Kong.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The Amazon founder was previously married to Mackenzie Scott from 1993 to 2019, and the couple share three sons and an adopted daughter.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Mar. 2025
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His adopted daughter, Sandra Correia Lopes, 12, weighs just 12 kilograms, or 26 pounds, and falls sick frequently.—
Sui-Lee Wee,
New York Times,
16 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Illegitimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegitimate. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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