as in spuriousness
the state or fact of being born out of wedlock she had learned of her illegitimacy while rummaging through old family records in the attic

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of illegitimacy From this perspective, the familiar elements of the Nativity—the stable, the shepherds, the Magi—were not meant to paper over the embarrassment at Jesus’ illegitimacy. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025 From this perspective, the familiar elements of the Nativity—the stable, the shepherds, the Magi—were not meant to paper over the embarrassment at Jesus’ illegitimacy. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025 But his comix are best understood as a bottom-up effort to return a neutered art form—one that afforded him untrammeled fantasy as a kid—to a place of illegitimacy and anarchy, shame and desire, surplus and oblivion. Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 3 Mar. 2025 The think tank that Putin is pushing rhetoric about Zelensky's illegitimacy to make conditions for Russia to justify violating any future agreement with Ukraine. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for illegitimacy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegitimacy
bastardy
Noun
  • Baseness, bastardy, base They are also reflected in the game’s popularity, especially among those with the most detached view of America: the millions of immigrants who have arrived over baseball’s history.
    The Economist, The Economist, 8 June 2019
  • Johanna Luthman, a historian at the University of North Georgia, has worked for years to understand the practice and repercussions of fornication, adultery and bastardy among the early 17th-century English aristocracy.
    Richard Davenport-Hines, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2017

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Illegitimacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegitimacy. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on illegitimacy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!