ILLEGALITY Synonyms: 55 Similar and Opposite Words

illegality

noun

as in criminality

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Recent Examples of illegality The Philippines began to release video of China violating the arbitration ruling, and calling out the illegality of China’s actions on social media. — Jill Goldenziel, Forbes.com, 30 July 2026 As a result, the decision was 6–3 on the illegality of the executive order, but only 5–4 on the constitutional question. — Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 30 June 2026 The Justice Manual violations described above represent only one dimension of the illegality of this Fund. — Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 26 June 2026 And the blurred line between guanxi and outright illegality bred widespread graft. — Reagan Yip, CNN Money, 3 June 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegality

Noun

Frenkel said that if criminality is found in complex investigations such as this one, federal prosecutors will typically file mail or wire fraud charges that carry up to 20 years in prison.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026
From self-sufficient campaigns to opportunistic criminality Defenders used individual incidents, such as supply chain intrusions, ransomware outbreaks, and phishing waves, to quantify risk for the most of the past ten years.

— Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Definition of criminality

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
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

Definition of unlawfulness

Noun

Shortly after, Panettiere struggles with postpartum depression, and her substance abuse issues resurface.

— Julianna Bragg, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
Video recordings and documents detail how investigators pursued the case, and the possibility of abuse, for months but failed to identify a perpetrator.

— Amy Brittain, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of abuse

Noun

Times when this line has fundamentally blurred, such as with Nixon and Watergate, have been some of the most notorious instances of overreach and corruption in our history.

— New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 20 Aug. 2026
Collins has been behind in numerous polls, and has been fighting a House ethics investigation and accusations of corruption and associations with white supremacists throughout his campaign.

— Irene Wright, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of corruption

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

Definition of licentiousness

Noun

Since the middle of the twentieth century, societies around the globe have undergone a collective revolution in standards and attitudes towards obscenity and immorality.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026
Independents said the worst thing about Republicans was their loyalty to Trump (10%), perceptions of corruption and self-enrichment (8%), dishonesty, hypocrisy or immorality (7%), a lack of concern for ordinary people or cruelty (6%), and ineffective and weak or unqualified leadership (5%).

— Emily Guskin, ABC News, 27 May 2026

Definition of immorality

Browse Nearby Words

illegalities

illegality

illegalize

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“Illegality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegality. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of illegality

noun

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