as in criminality
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Recent Examples of illegality
While lower prices are welcome news for consumers, cannabis businesses have had difficulty making money due to high financing and operating costs, and an inability to take normal business tax deductions due to the drug’s illegality under federal law.
—
Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026
Speaking out in that way is not illegality.
—ABC News, 18 Jan. 2026
Many of the administration’s actions rely on broad claims of illegality without providing specific violations.
—Spencer Overton, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2026
My uncles and cousins, all city or federal police officers, did not use political party affiliation as a basis for determining legality versus illegality.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026
So do expressions of concern and declarations of illegality by democratic countries.
—Richard Fontaine, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
These works, among others, challenge visitors to consider how LA and São Paulo have criminalized their most vulnerable citizens but also demonstrate how Brazil’s discourse on social rights and illegality is unique.
—Michaëla De Lacaze Mohrmann, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026
Other clients retained attorneys and accountants, and those professionals also warned of the tax shelter's illegality.
—Logan Smith, CBS News, 28 Dec. 2025
But most personnel already understand the duty to disobey obvious illegality—and reminding them of it nudges more of them toward lawful behavior when the stakes are at their most extreme.
—Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026
Speaking out in that way is not illegality.
—ABC News, 18 Jan. 2026
Many of the administration’s actions rely on broad claims of illegality without providing specific violations.
—Spencer Overton, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2026
My uncles and cousins, all city or federal police officers, did not use political party affiliation as a basis for determining legality versus illegality.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026
So do expressions of concern and declarations of illegality by democratic countries.
—Richard Fontaine, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
These works, among others, challenge visitors to consider how LA and São Paulo have criminalized their most vulnerable citizens but also demonstrate how Brazil’s discourse on social rights and illegality is unique.
—Michaëla De Lacaze Mohrmann, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026
Other clients retained attorneys and accountants, and those professionals also warned of the tax shelter's illegality.
—Logan Smith, CBS News, 28 Dec. 2025
But most personnel already understand the duty to disobey obvious illegality—and reminding them of it nudges more of them toward lawful behavior when the stakes are at their most extreme.
—Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegality
Noun
-
Thus, Ahmed’s Hamlet discovers not just his father’s murder and betrayal but also the criminality on which his family’s entire wealth has been built.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
14 Apr. 2026
-
But your research suggests that there might be genetic factors that lead to aggressive behavior or other forms of criminality.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But in a court-martial, a service member who argues that an order is unlawful has the burden of proving its unlawfulness.—
Joshua Kastenberg,
The Conversation,
16 Dec. 2025
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Many people at Harvard and elsewhere feared that the university would reach a deal with the Administration before Judge Burroughs’s decision, because that would have meant that no court would declare the unlawfulness of the Administration’s actions toward academic institutions.—
Jeannie Suk Gersen,
New Yorker,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Cole found that he was still traumatized by the abuse and had a hard time concentrating.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Single-source grants The legislative auditor’s report found that from July 2022 through December 2024, BHA paid out roughly $200 million annually to counties, tribes and providers for services related to mental health and substance abuse disorder, totaling some 830 separate grant agreements.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The professors said that after their arrests, they were targeted by threats and harassment, part of a pushback by conservatives who said universities were failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitism and allowing lawlessness.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Israeli officials and military leaders have recently sounded the alarm over intensifying violence and lawlessness by extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank, where arsons and deadly attacks have continued unabated.—
Sam Metz,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The causes of displacement are largely attributed to political conflict, corruption, violence and economic hardship, including widespread poverty.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2026
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Though the official inquest failed to determine whether Zac jumped to escape danger or to kill himself, The New Yorker’s Keefe winds up blaming the death on the corruption of London in recent decades by oligarchs, con men, and international criminals.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This kind of depravity, licentiousness and polemical theatrics has no place on such a traditional and once wholesome presentation of the coming of a new year in our great nation and especially on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the greatest experiment in democracy and freedom in history.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Jan. 2026
-
This kind of depravity, licentiousness and polemical theatrics has no place on such a traditional and once-wholesome presentation of the coming of a new year, especially on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the greatest experiment in democracy and freedom in history.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Following this tendency might finally cure us not only of indigestion but also the ancient immorality of eating other organisms.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Consider this evilmeister’s brazen acts of treason and revenge, unbounded deceit, swinish immorality and negative role modeling.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Illegality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegality. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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