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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Consumers will pay the price of these misbegotten policies.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2025
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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
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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Doyle was charged with unlawful imprisonment in the second degree and assault in the third degree.—
Chris Young Ritzen,
CBS News,
10 May 2025
Adjective
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After a 14-year break, the Final Destination franchise returns with another installment sure to inspire a host of new irrational fears.—
EW Staff,
EW.com,
16 May 2025
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Free agency is in the distant past, the NFL Draft is in the rearview mirror and, barring any major swerves, many fans are piecing team depth charts together with irrational confidence while anxiously waiting for Wednesday’s schedule release.—
Dan Pompei,
New York Times,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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Without effective safeguards in place, there are considerable risks to all businesses along alcohol supply chains of becoming implicated in illicit trading.—
Mark Littler,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2025
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And, there's always the strong possibility of the emergence of new, even more potent synthetic opioids—just like when fentanyl entered the illicit drug supply over a decade ago and caused an unprecedented number of deaths.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 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 25 May. 2025.
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